The Government of Claudia Sheinbaum is confident that the United States authorities will authorize the extradition of Inés Gómez-Mont and her husband, businessman Víctor Manuel Álvarez Puga, who are as fugitives accused of alleged money laundering.
Pablo Gómez, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), said during the morning conference of Sheinbaum, that the couple fled to the United States when they began to be persecuted by Mexican justice. However, the official hopes they can face the charges for alleged money laundering.
“Gómez-Mont was accused of a series of frauds, well, and her partner, Álvarez Puga, in the prison system, a series of false works were committed, they earned a lot of money there, in that place, so that justice began to chase them when things changed and then they went to live in the United States,” Gomez explained.
He added that although they have managed to avoid extradition so far, they trust that the situation will change and that both must be accounts before the Mexican courts.
The official also stressed that as a preventive measure, the FIU included them in the list of blocked people, although he stressed that “a substantive trial has not started.” “They have been incorporated, they can do operations freely in the financial system,” he said. In addition, he added that “just as they, there are hundreds of people who have done similar, similar things, and who are released by the judges so that they can use the financial system again.”
The resources that supposedly would have been washed by Gómez-Mont and Álvarez Puga come from contracts granted by the Deconcentrated Administrative Body of Social Prevention and Readaptation, in charge of federal prisons, which motivated a complaint by the Federation Fiscal Attorney (PFF) in April 2021.
Since September 2021, the couple faces arrest warrants for money laundering and organized crime, derived from fiscal fraud of 13 million pesos committed in 2017, although the driver has already paid the corresponding debt.
Last week, the FIU was forced to withdraw Gómez-Mont and Álvarez Puga from their list of blocked people, in which they had been included in May 2023.
Pablo Gómez detailed the judicial process that allowed the couple to reactivate their financial operations in Mexico, despite having arrest warrants. “The third collegiate court in administrative matters of the First Circuit confirmed the judgment of November 29, 2023 issued by the Tenth District Judge in administrative matters of Mexico City, which he granted, had granted, amparo to the driver Inés Gómez Mont Arena and Víctor Manuel Álvarez Puga to be eliminated both from the list of blocked persons,” he explained.
As a consequence of that sentence, on March 4 of this year, in compliance with what was ordered by the judge, the FIU issued instructions to reactivate the couple’s financial services, which was confirmed on March 10 by the Court. “The Order of the Judicial Power, to eliminate the list of people blocked to Inés Gómez-Mont and Víctor Manuel Álvarez Puga, will allow them to use the national financial system, without any restriction, despite the fact that the Public Ministry has an arrest warrant against both people,” Gomez criticized.
To date, four arrest warrants against Inés Gómez-Mont have been issued: three for tax fraud and one more for organized crime and money laundering. The FIU also pointed out that most judges in the country benefit people linked to money laundering and urged Congress to advance reforms to combat this situation.
Pablo Gómez criticized that the judges are disincorporating people from the locked list based on provisional suspensions, without waiting for the final resolution of the amparo trials. “I want to tell you, when a federal judge gives a suspension, for having been incorporated into the list of blocked people, the amparo trial is not made, it is about to be done,” he said during the morning conference of President Claudia Sheinbaum. In addition, he accused that this practice benefits people who wash money, “and this can be no product than corruption structures.”
The UIF holder also explained that the institution does not directly carry out financial blockages, but that the banking institutions execute the instructions after the incorporation of people into the list. He regretted that a large part of the blocked resources have been released by judicial decisions.
Between the end of 2018 and March 2025, more than 32,531 million pesos, 568.3 million dollars and 2 million euros have been blocked, as part of the shares against money laundering. However, more than 70% of these funds have been unlocked by judicial failures.
According to FIU data, between December 2018 and March 2025, 5,904 natural persons and 1,911 moral people have been included in the list of blocked people, adding a total of 7,815 subjects. Of these, 910 individuals and 360 Morales have been disincorporated, so 4,994 natural persons and 1,551 moral people currently remain on the list.
The official also urged the Senate to approve reforms to improve money laundering prevention, since, although Mexico has implemented some international observations, there are still areas that need correction. “What has been discussed in Congress, and also in the Government, is that we put ourselves to make some character reforms – which have been delayed a lot in the specific case of the Senate – to strengthen the system of prevention of operations with resources of illicit origin,” he said.
In this regard, he stressed that Mexico shares a huge border with the United States, its main commercial partner, which increases the risk of money laundering. “We need that, we are a country that has a huge border with the United States, which is the largest economy in the world,” he concluded.
Finally, he defended the use of the list of blocked people as a measure of protection to the Mexican financial system, by immediately suspending the use of resources with alleged illicit origin. “It is a measure of protection of the financial system and the national economy,” he said.
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