Mexican authorities close thirteen casinos as part of money laundering probe
The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, in collaboration with the Security Cabinet, has identified 13 casinos that have been found to be engaging in cash operations and utilising unsupervised digital platforms. According to a press release from the Ministry, these establishments have been designated as “blocked legal entities” due to their high financial risk, with the aim of protecting users and preventing their potential use by organized crime.
Conduct in these establishments was found to be consistent with “international money laundering typologies.” The casinos in question are located in Jalisco, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California, the State of Mexico, Chiapas, and Mexico City, according to the patterns detected in the financial analysis.
“Some of these establishments operated with millions of dollars in cash, making transfers to countries such as the United States, Romania, Albania, Malta, Panama, as well as through digital platforms, facilitating the dispersion of illicit resources, their concealment, and their reintegration into the Mexican and international financial system,” the Ministry said.
The authorities’ investigation revealed that the digital platforms were using people with financial profiles that didn’t correspond to the amount of money they were handling. This included “housewives, students, retirees, and the unemployed, who in exchange for a percentage transferred all the funds to the real owners, legitimizing the income apparently obtained from games.” However officials later backtracked and clarified that these people were victims of identity theft and were unaware that their financial information was being used.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) will file complaints with the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) so that there is follow-up on possible crimes of money laundering, as well as criminal association and tax-related crimes.
The Ministry stated that these actions reaffirm the commitment to international cooperation to prevent the use of the financial system for illicit purposes, in collaboration with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and in compliance with the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to combat money laundering.
The Ministry concluded by saying that its recent actions “reaffirms the Mexican Government’s commitment to strengthening inter-institutional coordination, preventing criminal infiltration in vulnerable sectors, and consolidating joint actions with security and justice authorities to ensure that casinos and betting platforms are not used by alleged organized crime groups, as well as to protect users and the population.”
