The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of Treasury, sanctioned four people and 13 Mexican companies linked to shared time fraud led by the New Generation Jalisco poster (CJNG), this means the fifth time that US authorities sanction people linked to this activity, as the treasure was released on Wednesday through a statement.
Those indicated are established near Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, ‘A tourist destination that also serves as a strategic strength for the CJNG’, says the document.
According to the Treasury, although drug trafficking remains the main source of income from the CJNG, the group also obtains resources of activities such as fuel theft, extortion and fraud related to shared times, that is, the right to use a holiday property during a specific period.
“We come through terrorist drug cartels such as the CJNG that is flooding our country with fentanil,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Besent.
“These posters continue to create new ways to generate income that accelerate their terrorist operations. Under the direction of President Trump, we will continue our effort to completely eradicate the ability of the posters to generate income, including their efforts to take advantage of American elderly through shared time fraud,” he added.
The OFAC has imposed sanctions on related individuals and entities, directly or indirectly, with the CJNG shared fraud for the fifth occasion, so far reaching more than 70 people and organizations.
The previous actions were recorded on March 2, 2023, on April 27, 2023, on November 30, 2023 and July 16, 2024, although the agency indicates that this activity has been identified since 2012. In addition, since 2015 the OFAC sanctioned the CJNG for playing a significant role in international narcotics traffic.
The aforementioned people
Among the aforementioned people, Julio César Montero Pinzón, Carlos Andrés Rivera Varela, Francisco Javier Gudiño Haro and Michael Ibarra Díaz, such as the main operators are these schemes.
In the case of Ibarra Díaz, originally from Puerto Vallarta, it is pointed out that it is apparently “a legitimate entrepreneur of the tourism sector”, but in the end it serves as lenders of the CJNG and its network is composed of 13 companies.
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Five of these companies – Akali Realtors, Mediator Center of the Coast, Corporate Integral de la Costa, Corporate Costa Norte and Sunmex Travel – are dedicated to the commercialization of shared times; TTR Go operates as a travel agency. In addition, Integral Real Estate of the Port, Kvy Bucerías and Real Estate Ibadi services focus on the sale or rental of real estate.
This network of companies includes other of various branches: tour operators such as Fishing Are US and Santamaria Cruise; Automotive services business such as Automotive Professional Laminate Elte; And an accounting firm called Professional Consulting Almida, details the document.
Mode of operation
The OFAC explained that the shared time fraud operates in several phases. First, the cartels obtain information from US owners through accomplices in tourist complexes in Mexico and contact them by Call Centers, posing as US companies to collect “quotas” and “taxes” in advance through transfers to Mexican banks.
In a second phase, government lawyers or officials are passed, even of the OFAC, promising to recover lost funds in exchange for initial payments and, in some cases, threatening fines or jail.
Between July and December of last year, the OFAC reported that the financial control execution network received more than 250 reports of suspicious activities related to shared time scams. Approximately 1,300 transactions were identified for a total of 23.1 million dollars, sent mainly from the US to Mexico, with an average of 28 thousand 912 dollars per victim.
Finally, the sanctions established by the OFAC to all goods and interests in goods of sanctioned persons are also blocked, any entity in which these people have a 50% or more participation is also blocked.
All transactions made by US citizens or within the US are also prohibited from the defendants, including transfers of funds, goods or services to or from these people.
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