US imposes sanctions on entities linked to Mexican cartel for timeshare fraud

The US Treasury Department announced Tuesday it imposed sanctions on multiple entities linked to a Mexican cartel that uses timeshare fraud schemes to target Americans.

The sanctions include three Mexican accountants and four Mexican companies linked directly or indirectly to a timeshare fraud led by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).

The Treasury Department said transnational criminal organizations operate call centers in Mexico with scammers impersonating US-based third-party timeshare brokers, attorneys or sales representatives.

Scammers target and defraud US timeshare owners in Mexico through complex telemarketing, impersonation and fee schemes, including timeshare exit, rerent and investment scams, it said.

The victims often send payments to the scammers through wire transfers via American correspondent banks to Mexican shell companies with accounts at Mexican banks or brokerage houses, and the funds are further laundered in Mexico through additional shell companies controlled by cartel members, their family members or third-party money launderers, it added.

"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," Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.

"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," he said. "Treasury and our partners are deploying all tools available to disrupt this nefarious activity, which funds things like deadly drug trafficking and human smuggling, and we encourage the public to use our resources to stay vigilant against these threats."

The US agency said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2023 imposed sanctions on 50 individuals and entities linked to CJNG’s timeshare fraud activities.