Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Obama Administration Gives U.S. Forfeited Funds to Mexico

The Sigue forfeiture resulted from a case investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service, not by Mexico’s PGR….Paz, Chivis

WASHINGTON – United States Attorney General Eric Holder and Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales Ibáñez today signed a letter of intent for the United States to share approximately $6 million in forfeited funds with the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic of Mexico (PGR) to support Mexican efforts to combat the financial infrastructure of organized criminal groups and to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries in forfeiture matters.

The letter of intent and anticipated fund sharing recognizes the PGR’s valuable cooperation in the investigation and resolution of the United States government’s case against Sigue Corporation for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. In January 2008, Sigue entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice on charges of failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. As a result, Sigue forfeited $15 million to the United States and agreed to commit an additional $9.7 million to improving its anti-money laundering program.


“The Department of Justice and the Mexican PGR have built strong and collaborative working relationships in order to combat transnational organized criminal groups,” said Attorney General Holder. “Our intention to share approximately $6 million in forfeited assets with our Mexican counterparts reflects another step forward in our successful crime prevention and public safety efforts. In an era where crime is not limited by physical boundaries, our international partnerships are more critical than ever in the work of bringing criminals to justice.”


As outlined in the letter of intent, the PGR and the Department of Justice, through the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (AFMLS), will negotiate the specific terms of the Sigue case sharing agreement and establish respective Executive Sharing Committees designed to negotiate and oversee the sharing, delivery, transfer and disbursement of the forfeited funds.


The shared assets will be used to strengthen and support the PGR’s capacity to investigate and prosecute domestic and bilateral money laundering crimes, as well as Mexico’s ability to forfeit the proceeds of crime. This initiative is designed to complement ongoing bilateral efforts to increase pressure on the economic resources of the criminal organizations that operate in Mexico and along the United States/Mexico border.


The case, filed in the Eastern District of Missouri, arose out of transactions conducted by Sigue and its authorized agents from November 2003 through March 2005. During this time, more than $24.7 million in suspicious transactions were conducted through registered agents of Sigue, including transactions conducted by undercover United States law enforcement agents using funds represented to be proceeds of drug trafficking. Sigue did not identify broader patterns of money laundering activity, failed to prevent the unlawful activity from continuing and did not create systems and procedures to identify suspicious financial transactions being conducted by related senders and beneficiaries.


The Sigue forfeiture resulted from a case prosecuted by AFMLS and was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service.


Source: USDOJ Website

15 comments:

  1. W.T.F.

    This is why mexico doesn't want us military intervention.....because they are after one thing and one thing only....$$$$$$

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  2. bamagums and holder both need some chapo treatment..they are both war criminals

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  3. March 27, 2012 11:11 AM Yeah right, like if there was to much money to get this way. The Mexican government have spend about 42 billion dollars on the war on drugs in five years.

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    Replies
    1. With 42 billion you would think Mexico would be safer, but its not.

      Delete
  4. Don you see old hillary talking it up with the Mexican Lady,who is very,very happy, probably because She is about to go on a really great shopping trip(6M)

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  5. Well thst money will find its way right back to what ever cartel it was taken from! How and or why is the US government so F'n STUPID? Their should be NO aid or ANY type of resources going to Mexico until they can figure out a way to solve their corruption problems! The Mexican government is just another cartel plain and simple! The US had better pull its head out of its A** and get real!

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  6. @ March 27, 2012 1:36 PM

    THAT WAS EXACTLY MY POINT.
    THEY WANT US TO KEEP THE MONEY COMING BUT DON'T WANT OUR HELP ON THE BATTLE FIELD BECAUSE AS LONG AS THIS WAR RAGES ON THEY WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE THEIR POCKETS FILLED. (GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS OF COURSE.)

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  7. So what it's just a business thing... Mexicans will give us some narcos stash crossing over so we take the heat from the cartels and not them .we will give them a narcos drug and/or cash stash on their side., then cartels attorney will give us other cartels loads so theirs can cross we will then confiscate their us assets.... Everyone wins?It's a game, a shitty one, but u almost can't blame the Mexican officials for their crooked ways the cartels kill them and their wives,kids,lovers,parents dogs etc... and might I add in brutal ways .....so they got a lot to lose for like$ 100 a week check . We have more security for our agents,cops,etc... So what's our excuse??? The cash? The arm sales??? It all stinks...

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  8. Where is Calderon's sign "NO MORE MONEY".....don't think we'll see one will we???
    Besides, all these clamor about US sending guns to kill Mexicans and over 50,000 dead.....as Borderland Beat is my witness, the vast majority of those 50k dead have been criminals killing each other. The remaining percentage are Soldiers and Police who have given their lives in the line of duty. And a small percentage have been innocent third parties killed by the damn criminals. So there,a good part of those 50k dead are people who deserved to die.
    RAM

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  9. Greed wins over justice. Criminals should pay with appropriate prison terms not with a portion of their illegally transferred funds. Aditionally the criminal bank gets 9.7 mil in dirty money to pay themselves to watch themselves. The victims of the cartels get nothing but the insult of having the crooks live free. For a small fee the government of the U.S. has sold out the safety of it's citizens. At the very least, they should dye the money red to symbolize the deaths that are tied to this money. The gov profits from poison being sold in the U.S. and no one is imprisoned.

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  10. This dude is sitting safely in the US,while always trying to show the US in the worst light possible?Texcoco,is there anything worse than a two faced phony?If you hate the US so much,i,m sure Mexico would welcome you back,what dya think?
    I cant stand people who live one place,and CLAIM another,that is the lamest shit ever.If you hate the US,an air ticket,bus ticket can solve your hatred.Me,i don't have that problem,i am thankful that i,m in the US,with a desktop,job,car,you know what i mean.

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  11. 6 million, LOL, no wonder Calderon hugs Chapo's nuts. That's a weekly payoff to him. What a laugh. How much did we pay in salaries to confiscate that money. Probably 6 billion. Wow, we are making headway in this mighty War on Drugs, huh? Ad this to the Borderland Beat comics page. LMFAO

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  12. So in other words,

    Holder: Here take this money and never speak of fast and furious again.

    MX AG: Deal!

    ReplyDelete
  13. March 28, 2012 6:37 PM

    I was wondering where you were...jajaja

    It is not about this one split. The Obama
    adm has been proposing sharing all drug seizure profits with Mexico for about a year. This is only the first.

    The US receives 1.6 Billion in cash seizures each year. In the past the funds are given to the police agencies and departments involved in the seizure.

    US wanted to split a huge seizure last year of almost 100M with Mex...Texas fought that and won. So it looks like Obama wants to come in small so people like you will scoff and say "6M...big deal" all the while establishing Precedent.

    you see it does not matter if it were 1 dollar, if that is accepted then 1.6B also is accepted.

    I for one believes that is wrong. SOme of the poorest cities in the south US border are instrumental in these seizures they should get a cut. and our money laundering laws are not enforced because of lack of funding...seizure money should go there as well...

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  14. Right again, Chivis! It is rarely about one thing. Obama is trying to make nice with Calderon and establish precedent. Not very creative I think. As you say, US border cities could make better use of the money. US is trying everything they can think of to help Mexico without committing troops South of the border. They have to know that would be a very bad move on many levels.

    It seems to me that Mexico does not seize drug money/property like the US. I know they have these auctions of jewelry, cars, etc but they seem small compared to what I read about in the media was seized.

    Anyone know how that works in Mexico? The US govt can take everything right down to your undies if they can make any kind of a case that it was purchased with drug money. The onus is on the "owner" to prove drug money was not used to purchase whatever was seized.

    ReplyDelete

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