The United States Treasury Department sanctioned members of the Mexican Hysa family on Thursday, alleging that they used their extensive network of casinos and restaurants as fronts to launder funds for the powerful Sinaloa Cartel.
In what the Treasury described as a coordinated action with the Mexican government, the Treasury sanctioned six members of the Hysa family and one other person, along with their businesses in Mexico, Canada and Poland.
The Treasury also took steps to isolate the family’s alleged casinos in Mexico from the U.S. financial system.
The Hysa family, originally from Albania, has publicly denied links to organized crime in the past.
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US sanctions family behind Mexican casino empire for laundering cartel funds
“The United States and Mexico are working together to combat money laundering in Mexico’s gaming sector,” said Treasury Undersecretary John K. Hurley. “Our message to those who support the cartels is clear: they will be held accountable.”
U.S. authorities allege that Luftar Hysa, based between Mexico and Canada, along with family members worked with an unidentified person in the United States to move bulk cash from Mexico to the United States.
The Treasury announcement comes a day after Mexico said it had suspended operations at 13 casinos for allegedly running schemes to launder millions of dollars abroad. It was not immediately clear if the two operations were related.
The Mexican government did not name the closed sites, but Grupo Salinas, controlled by tycoon Ricardo Salinas, said it operated two of the casinos attacked and denied any wrongdoing.
With information from Reuters
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