Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson stated that the cartels operate "sophisticated teams of professionals" to scam and take advantage of U.S. citizens. Nelson made the statement in a U.S. Department of the Treasury press release on July 16.
"Cartel fraudsters run sophisticated teams of professionals who seem perfectly normal on paper or on the phone – but in reality, they're money launderers expertly trained in scamming U.S. citizens," said E. Nelson, according to U.S. Department of Treasury. "Unsolicited calls and emails may seem legitimate, but they're actually made by cartel-supported criminals. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Treasury and our partners are deploying all tools available to disrupt this nefarious activity, which funds things like deadly drug trafficking and human smuggling, and we encourage the public to use our resources to stay vigilant against these threats."
On July 16, the Department of the Treasury sanctioned four accountants and three affiliated companies with connections to fraudulent schemes by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, according to a Department of the Treasury press release. This sanction by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is in cooperation with the Mexican government.
According to CBS News, the individuals and companies sanctioned were involved in a "timeshare fraud" operation. Scammers would contact Americans, posing as brokers or sales representatives, about timeshare properties or real estate in Mexico to steal money with the support of the cartels. Approximately $39.6 million were lost to these fraudulent schemes by around 600 people in 2022.
The press release states that this sanction will require all activity or property related to these fraud schemes to be reported to OFAC and subsequently blocked. The goal of this action is to eliminate the trafficking of illegal narcotics into the United States by the cartels, which is funded by scamming operations like timeshare fraud.
Nelson is currently serving as Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, according to the Department's website. He formerly served as senior policy advisor, policy chief, and general counsel for the California Department of Justice and as deputy chief of staff for the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
