Mexico suspends 13 casinos for alleged money laundering

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities suspended operations at 13 casinos that allegedly were used to launder millions of dollars overseas, officials said Wednesday.

Grupo Salinas, the conglomerate of companies belonging to TV, retail and banking magnate Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who has clashed repeatedly with the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum, said that two of the targeted casinos belonged to it. The conglomerate denied any wrongdoing and accused the government of harassment in a statement.

The 13 companies involved allegedly had ties to organized crime, but Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said that did not necessarily mean cartels.

The schemes usually started with a stolen identity, said Grisel Galeano, Mexico’s top tax prosecutor. Students, homemakers or retirees without a lot of money would receive electronically prepaid cards or codes from unknown sources that they could use in a casino. Once they placed a bet, even for a small amount, the casino would use their identity to register a windfall of millions. That money would be transferred to overseas accounts of front businesses and then to tax havens. It would then be sent back to Mexico through the casinos or other companies, according to Galeano.

The monthslong investigation involved authorities in other countries, including the United States, Mexican officials said.