The governor of Tamaulipas, Francisco Javier Cabeza de Vaca, is involved in possible money laundering operations for more than 100 million pesos with resources that would allegedly come from possible acts of corruption and even triangulations with money linked to drug trafficking.
This is noted by three formal complaints that the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of the Ministry of Finance filed between 2020 and 2021 with the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, and from which the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic (FGR) integrated an investigation that already gave rise to a first order of capture against the panist representative.
At least 37 people and companies close to the governor whose bank accounts were frozen on 19 May would be linked in these laundering operations and possible diversion of resources. Blocked persons include the representative’s closest relatives.
According to federal sources, the amount of resources in the accounts that were insured to the state representative and its close ones will be known in three weeks.
The offences charged to Cabeza de Vaca are those of operations with resources of illicit origin and organized crime. The latter unlawful is considered serious and deserves informal pre-trial detention, which prevents the representative from stopping the arrest warrant with an amparo or leaving on bail in the event of arrest and processing.
Data from the FIU investigations that were presented to Congress at the time as part of the deafuero procedure identify that between 2014 and 2021 the former representative received deposits of 100.1 million pesos through three bank accounts in Santander, Bancomer and BanRegio, as well as through interbank checks and electronic transfers known as SPEI.
For the FIU this amount could be linked to operations of illicit origin since the declared revenues of Cowhead from 2003 to 2020 do not reach 24 million pesos. In addition, it has been linked to possible acts of corruption and washing that reach 100 million pesos.
For these reasons, the FIU made three complaints to the FGR on 28 June and 27 November 2020, as well as on 22 January 2021. In addition, it responded to at least four additional information requests by the Prosecutor’s Office in the last year.
Corruption, narco and fraud
From official documents, Political Animal on April 29, he published several of the possibly criminal acts that gave rise to the money laundering charges against the governor of Tamaulipas.
For example, in 2019 the governor received 49 million pesos for the sale of a department in Santa Fe whose value was inflated by more than 300%. The money, according to the UIF’s indegatory, came from three possible avenues: money diverted from federal and state resources, deposits linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, and transfers from a company linked to the Master Scam scheme.
The original purchase of that department, amounting to 14.3 million pesos, is also irregular since according to the UIF, Cabeza de Vaca received the resources through a commercial promotion company that in turn has transfers with at least five facade companies linked to the aforementioned criminal group.
The UIF links the former representative to a network of companies and loans through which nearly 7 and a half million pesos of federal and local funds allocated to the State Works Secretariat were diverted.
In addition, other irregularities and triangulations are added with schemes of possible corruption exceeding 40 million pesos.
As part of the indegatory, the UIF has also identified operations of alleged cowhead borrowings and entrepreneurs close to it by more than 200 million pesos. These are facts that are still under investigation and have not been prosecuted,
The financial blockade
On Wednesday, the UIF announced almost simultaneously the release of the apprehension order, the freezing of the bank accounts of 37 subjects directly linked to the governor of Tamaulipas, of which 12 are natural persons and 25 are companies.
According to federal authorities consulted here, these natural persons include the governor’s wife, as well as his siblings and parents.
The argument for freezing is based on the possible participation of such subjects in money laundering operations. In addition, these assurances seek to narrow the margin of manoeuvre of Cowhead in the face of the possibility of a possible leak.
On the amount of resources insured in block accountsauthorities indicated that within three weeks the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) will report the amounts that were secured.
Start the hunt
According to FGR authorities, the arrest warrant against Governor Cabeza de Vaca was granted in private and urgent hearing by federal judge Iván Aarón Zeferín, attached to the Federal Criminal Justice Center located in Almoloya, State of Mexico.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, this order would already allow the capture of the governor who is officially considered a fugitive from justice. They indicated that while the panist representative could hold a jurisdiction as governor (a fact disputed by FGR before the Court) such protection is limited only to the jurisdiction of the territory of Tamaulipas.
The FGR also presumes that Cabeza de Vaca could attempt to leave the country, which is why it required the issuance of a migration alert to the National Institute of Migration.
Finally, it was indicated that the formalities will be initiated through Interpol Mexico for the issuance of a red international location sheet, if it is not captured as soon as possible.
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