The Treasury has its eyes on millions of dollars in transfers from 13 casinos in Mexico. After months of investigations, the federal agency froze the bank accounts of betting houses after uncovering alleged acts of money laundering. The investigations carried out revealed cash transactions, international flows and the use of unsupervised digital platforms. “Some of these institutions operated with movements of millions of dollars in cash, transfers to the United States, Romania, Albania, Malta, Panama; as well as through digital platforms, which facilitated the dispersion of illicit assets, their concealment and their reintegration into the Mexican and international financial system,” the Government said in a statement released Tuesday.
The secretariat headed by Edgar Amador adds that, due to their high financial risk, irregular casinos have been listed as blocked legal entities to protect users and prevent these spaces from being used by organized crime. The betting houses, now on the bench, operate in the states of Jalisco, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California, the State of Mexico, Chiapas and Mexico City.
Following these investigations, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) will present complaints to the State Prosecutor’s Office to follow up on possible money laundering crimes, criminal association and tax crimes. The Treasury investigation, in collaboration with the Security Cabinet, also found that digital betting platforms used people with economic profiles not in line with the amount of money received. In this way housewives, students, pensioners and the unemployed receive a part of the money for all the funds transferred to the real owners.
The blocking of these 13 casinos comes a month after the entry into force of US sanctions against the banks Intercam and CIBanco and the brokerage firm Vector for allegedly laundering money from drug trafficking cartels. Washington’s unprecedented blow to the Mexican financial system has forced the Mexican Banking Association to strengthen its money laundering prevention measures.
In her morning briefing on Tuesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum revealed that the Ministry of the Interior, which grants gaming permits, is examining “all casinos from a safety and regulatory compliance perspective.” The Administration seeks to amend the Casino Act in the near future to regulate online betting, which did not exist when the regulations were adopted.
The Treasury said Tuesday that the operation against Mexico’s illegal gaming and competition industry reaffirms its commitment to international cooperation to prevent the use of the financial system for illicit purposes, in collaboration with FinCEN and OFAC, two U.S. Treasury Department agencies that specialize in tracking dirty money.
The investigations into 13 casinos in Mexico will be a serious blow to a sector over which the shadow of capital’s opacity hangs. According to the Mexican Entertainment and Gambling Industry Association (AIEJA), the legal gambling and sweepstakes industry is worth $3 billion annually, with more than 400 casinos operating and generating 38,000 direct jobs. However, the organization itself recognizes that illegal betting in the country has increased in recent years. According to their data, 60% of online betting pages are illegal.
