Griselda Margarita Arredondo Pinzon, Xeyda Del Refugio Foubert Cadena, and Emiliano Sanchez Martinez were blacklisted by OFAC for their work with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a notoriously violent group that has made cannibalism part of the training and initiation of its sicarios. Several of the cartel’s senior hierarchy have already been sanctioned by the U.S. on drug trafficking, money laundering, and corruption charges.
The three Puerto Vallarta-based accountants have aided CJNG’s timeshare fraud schemes and have familial ties to attorneys and senior members of the cartel who are similarly sanctioned, U.S. authorities said.
“The CJNG cartel, a leading trafficker of narcotics like illicit fentanyl into the United States, generates substantial revenue for its multi-faceted criminal enterprise through its timeshare fraud network,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen.
In a nutshell, timeshare fraud works through third-party scammers, who contact timeshare owners claiming that they represent buyers ready to make an offer. These third-parties represent themselves as timeshare brokers or sales representatives.
If the owner accepts, the scammer requests money in the form of advance fees and taxes, purportedly to expedite the sale, with assurances of reimbursement upon closing. The money is then channeled by accountants like Arredondo, Foubert, and Martinez through cartel-owned shell companies.
Only after the victim sends these payments do they realize that there never were any buyers and that their money is long gone.
Elderly citizens who live off pensions and their life savings are the cartel’s most popular targets.
To add insult to injury, scammers will often revisit victims later on, posing as attorneys and law enforcement officials willing to investigate and reclaim their stolen funds in exchange for a fee. Once again, this money will never be seen again.
“CJNG’s deep involvement in timeshare fraud in the Puerto Vallarta area and elsewhere, which often targets elder U.S. citizens and can defraud victims of their life savings, is an important revenue stream supporting the group’s overall criminal enterprise,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
Since 2019, roughly 6,000 American citizens have reported losses of almost US$300 million to timeshare fraud schemes in Mexico, according to the FBI. However, the federal law enforcement body said that this figure underestimates total losses, as most victims do not come forward due to embarrassment and other reasons.
In 2023 alone, OFAC sanctioned approximately 50 Mexican individuals and entities who facilitated timeshare fraud operations on behalf of CJNG.