Mexico Suspends 13 Casinos Suspected of Aiding Money Laundering

Authorities in Mexico are on the offensive, after 13 casinos were ordered to stop their operations amid a large-scale anti-money laundering probe that names gaming majors such as Grupo Salinas.

Casinos Remitted Fake Wins Overseas to Launder Money

According to a statement released on Wednesday, two of the casinos targeted in the latest raid belonged to Ricardo Salinas Pliego, a banking magnate. The properties, argues Mexico’s security secretary, Omar Garcia Harfuch, have been tied to criminal enterprises, but did not venture so far as to call them cartel-linked.

The scheme was a convoluted one, argues Grisel Galeano, Mexico’s tax prosecutor, who has described it as an elaborate plan to launder money and obfuscate its origin. The casinos would target people who were offered small credits to play. When they did, and registered a small profit, the casino would write up the wins, leading to millions misreported this way.

The money would then be sent overseas, and then to tax havens before finally being sent back to the casinos in Mexico, or other companies associated with the scheme. It is not clear what money has been laundered and where it came from,  but investigators are conducting searches and taking witness statements.

No other information has been released regarding the case. In the meantime, Mexico has been debating whether or not to increase the tax on gambling to 50% of the gross gaming revenue.