The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions targeting accountants who worked with Mexican drug cartels to commit timeshare fraud against Americans.
The sanctions target three accountants and four Mexico-based real estate companies with ties to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel. CBS News.
In April 2023, the United States sanctioned other individuals associated with the crime ring for similar criminal activity targeting elderly Americans. The cartel also deceives American tourists into paying brokerage fees for timeshares in Mexico.
The organization hires scammers to contact Americans who own timeshares and convince them to sell or rent their properties. The scammers then demand payment and disappear after collecting the money from the unsuspecting Americans.
1/ Today, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on three Mexican accountants and four Mexican companies involved in a timeshare fraud operation led by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). https://t.co/SbmOQ9rDYx
— Ministry of Finance (@USTreasury) July 16, 2024
The FBI received more than 600 complaints related to the scam in 2022. According to CBS News, the scammers have scammed victims out of about $39.6 million. The cartels enforce their operations with brutal force, killing workers who try to quit. (Related article: Mexican drug cartels are expanding into new industry: Wi-Fi, prosecutors say: Report)
“Cartel fraudsters operate sophisticated teams of professionals who appear completely normal on paper and over the phone, but are in fact money launderers professionally trained to defraud the American people,” warned Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson. “Unsolicited phone calls and emails may seem legitimate, but in fact are from cartel-backed criminals. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.”
The Jalisco organization is also responsible for smuggling fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the United States, as well as transporting illegal immigrants into the country amid an ongoing border conflict.
