translated from Spanish: Treasury blocked only 14 accounts for money laundering in 2018

for 2018, the financial intelligence of the Ministry of finance unit analyzed and oversaw 124 thousand people for alleged money laundering in Mexico, but only blocked accounts Bank of 14 individuals, 0.01% of the total number of cases.
This was announced during his appearance Wednesday before the Committee on Finance of the House of representatives the new head of the unit of financial intelligence, Santiago Nieto.
The official explained that as a result of the actions against 14 persons only blocked 198 million pesos in illicit provenance resources throughout the year, which qualified it as a poor performance during the last PRI administration that concluded on November 30.
Nieto explained that this year the intelligence unit also received in total more than 22 million reports on possible activities related to money laundering, a crime which, basically, is to convert money of illegal origin, by example, of drug trafficking, in assets with legitimate appearance that can be used in the legal economy.
However, said the official, only presented 70 complaints to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) and only 39 requests by the public prosecutor were attended to investigate the cases.
“Mexico has a solid financial system, with a strong regulation, which can be improved at various points. However, this has not translated into criminal or administrative responsibilities for issues related to money laundering”, underlined the extitular of the Special Prosecutor for electoral crimes (Fepade) care, during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto.
the strategy key anti-money laundering
in this context, the official stressed that the goal of the new unit will be increase the criminal charges for money laundering, and increase the list of those blocked by activities illicit. This, he explained, requires throwing a “laundering national strategy” that must meet three objectives.
The first, “beating the financial structures of organized crime, from the freezing of its bank accounts”.
“The second, linking the work of the unit with the of the Prosecutor General of the Republic, as an autonomous constitutional body, as well as with the Prosecutor’s offices and local agencies”.
And the third, “constitute the intelligence unit as an adjuvant of matters that the public prosecutor of the Republic, and local prosecutors, bring to judicial authorities”.
“Corruption is a phenomenon of a transnational nature, and, therefore, bonding with the units at the local level and federal are the best strategy to combat money laundering and the financing of criminal groups”, said Santiago Nieto.
The new head of the financial intelligence unit also told lawmakers, that they should vote this Thursday in the plenary of the Chamber of deputies in favor or against ratification as new head of the unit, which in the coming months will be one” national assessment of risks”in the financial sector in Mexico.
This assessment, said Nieto, will have a mechanism “to diagnose what risk spaces in public and private financial sector” and about that determine actions to combat corruption and also to combat the theft of hydrocarbons, which said that already is being designed a strategy in the field of public security, with the Navy and the army, both on the side of the Ministry of energy and the Ministry of finance.
the combat companies
Ghost in the fight against corruption, one of the great challenges that must face the new finance intelligence unit is the massive emergence of phantom companies, or of facade companies: companies that do not have infrastructure real, active, or personal, but that emit apocryphal invoices to simulate commercial operations, committing crimes such as money laundering, tax evasion, or the diversion of public resources.
For now, the battle is being ineffective, or at least slow.
An example that confirms it was announced Animal politician on 25 September, when the then-owner of Hacienda, José Antonio González Anaya, informed the Senate that in a single year, they recovered 100 million dollars of the more than 4 mi l 600 million (only 2%) that were allegedly diverted from 11 agencies of the federal Government, using 144 companies phantom or irregular and documented by journalistic research scam master offset scheme.
About this, Santiago Nieto said in a interview with Televisa, according to a report by the financial intelligence unit, in 2018 presenting 65 complaints before the PGR by the alleged phantom existence of companies, but so far s OLO is made two folders of research, without having judgments, or searches, and only an operation against this type of fraudulent mechanisms.
For this reason, Nieto said that another challenge will be to present a proposal in February before the Congress amending the law to prevent the existence of this type of companies facade, and, in addition, allow prosecute final beneficiary of the money.
So far, the financial intelligence of the new Government of López Obrador unit already announced last December 6, who filed the first complaint the PGR for the crime of operations with resources of illicit origin (money-laundering), against members the Cartel Jalisco new generation (CJNG).
Network laundering are investigating involves a string of companies allegedly managed by relatives of the leader of the Cartel’s Jalisco, Nemesio Oseguera, the Mencho, currently fugitive from justice.
Public information of the United States Treasury Department points out that of the 253 companies that allegedly launder money for drug trafficking in Mexico cartels, 33 belong to the CJNG.

Original source in Spanish