The United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tuesday targeting accountants working with Mexican drug cartels to perpetrate timeshare fraud on Americans.
The sanctions are directed at three accountants and four Mexico-based real estate firms linked to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, according to CBS News.
The U.S. sanctioned other individuals tied to the criminal enterprise in April 2023 for a similar operation that targeted elderly Americans. The cartels con American tourists into paying for help with their timeshares in Mexico.
The operation employs scammers to reach out to Americans who own timeshares to convince them to sell or rent their properties. They request payment and then disappear after receiving money from unsuspecting Americans.
1/ Today, our Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three Mexican accountants and four Mexican companies linked to timeshare fraud led by the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). https://t.co/SbmOQ9rDYx
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) July 16, 2024
The FBI received more than 600 complaints related to the fraud in 2022. Scammers conned about $39.6 million from their victims, CBS News reported. The cartels enforce their operations with brutal force, murdering workers if they try to quit. (RELATED: Mexican Drug Cartels Are Expanding Into A New Industry — Wi-Fi, Prosecutors Say: REPORT)
“Cartel fraudsters run sophisticated teams of professionals who seem perfectly normal on paper or on the phone – but in reality, they’re money launderers expertly trained in scamming U.S. citizens,” Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nelson cautioned. “Unsolicited calls and emails may seem legitimate, but they’re actually made by cartel-supported criminals. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
The Jalisco operation is also responsible for smuggling fentanyl and other deadly narcotics into the United States. It has also been transporting illegal immigrants into the country amid the ongoing border crisis.
