Timeshare fraud targeting U.S. owners in Mexico and orchestrated by transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) based in that country has caught the eye of the Treasury’s financial crimes unit and other law enforcement agencies, they said Tuesday.
According to Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), along with the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the FBI, in a joint notice to financial institutions, the targeting by the Mexican TCOs is done through “complex and often yearslong telemarketing, impersonation, and advance fee schemes.”
FinCEN said the TCOs use illicit proceeds from the activities to diversify their revenue streams and finance other criminal activities, including the manufacturing and trafficking of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs into the United States.
FinCEN named the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) as an example of the TCOs.
Tuesday’s notice covers the methodologies, financial typologies, and red flag indicators associated with timeshare fraud.
The notice was published concurrently, FinCEN said, with OFAC sanctions action against Mexican accountants and companies for their role in facilitating timeshare fraud on behalf of CJNG.