The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned members of the Mexican Hysa family, alleging they used their extensive network of casinos and restaurants as fronts to launder money for the powerful Sinaloa Cartel.
In what the Treasury described as a coordinated effort with the Mexican government, it sanctioned six members of the Hysa family and one other individual, along with their businesses in Mexico, Canada, and Poland.
The Treasury also took steps to insulate the family’s alleged casinos in Mexico from the U.S. financial system.
The Hysa family, originally from Albania, has publicly denied any ties to organized crime in the past.
You may be interested in: Erotic scene between Trump and J.D. Vance leaves ‘South Park’ viewers traumatized: what you need to know about the latest episode
“The United States and Mexico are working together to combat money laundering in Mexico’s gambling sector,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury 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 his family members, worked with an unidentified individual in the United States to move large amounts of 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 whether the two operations were related.
The Mexican government did not name the closed sites, but Grupo Salinas, controlled by media mogul Ricardo Salinas, said it operated two of the raided casinos and denied any wrongdoing.
Source: forbes
