Mexican authorities have shut down 13 casinos after investigators uncovered operations that allegedly channelled large amounts of money overseas. Officials said the closures follow months of work tracing how funds were moved through casino transactions before being sent abroad, a process carried out with support from international partners, including agencies in the United States.
Investigators discovered that operators could have disguised unlawful payments as legitimate casino gains. Authorities stated that the evidence acquired throughout the investigation directly motivated this week’s enforcement actions.
According to Mexico’s top tax prosecutor, Grisel Galeano, the process often began with a stolen identity. Students, homemakers and retirees with limited financial resources received prepaid cards or electronic codes from unknown sources. They used these cards to place a small wager inside a casino. Once the bet was registered, the casino allegedly recorded a fabricated windfall worth millions of dollars under the person’s name. The money was then transferred to accounts of front businesses abroad, moved through tax havens and ultimately returned to Mexico via the same companies or through other corporate channels.
The manipulation of payout systems and identity records drew attention to broader regulatory gaps, particularly around how physical gambling venues verified and authorised winnings. It also placed renewed focus on the contrast between these vulnerabilities and the safeguards typically applied to regulated casino games in jurisdictions that enforce stringent compliance standards and on the importance for players to rely on licensed US online casinos.
Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said three of the companies involved had ties to organised crime, though he clarified that this did not necessarily indicate cartel involvement.
Grupo Salinas, the conglomerate owned by businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego, confirmed that two of its casinos were among those ordered to suspend activities. The company denied wrongdoing and said the actions amounted to government harassment. Salinas, a vocal critic of the current administration, has frequently clashed with President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government over tax and regulatory matters.
The suspensions coincided with a separate development involving the conglomerate. Mexico’s Supreme Court rejected seven of nine legal appeals filed by Salinas-linked companies over tax debts exceeding $2.6 billion dating back more than a decade. While the remaining two cases have yet to be decided, Grupo Salinas argued that the charges constitute double taxation and said it may pursue international legal remedies.
One day after Mexico’s announcement, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on members of the Hysa family and several associated businesses in Mexico, Canada and Poland. The Treasury alleges the group used casinos and restaurants as fronts to launder funds for the Sinaloa Cartel.
Those sanctioned include Luftar Hysa and several relatives, who US authorities allege worked with an individual in the United States to transport bulk cash from Mexico. OFAC also identified Canadian and Polish entities linked to the network, along with one Mexican national connected to a gaming establishment allegedly owned by the Hysas.
In addition to freezing assets, OFAC warned that individuals or businesses engaging with the listed entities could face civil penalties. The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also issued a notice of intent to designate transactions at 10 Mexican casinos as “of primary money laundering concern.” Five of these establishments are located in the border cities of Rosarito, Nogales, Agua Prieta, Ensenada and San Luis Río Colorado.
US Treasury Under Secretary John K. Hurley said the actions were coordinated with the Mexican government and reinforced a shared commitment to countering money laundering within the gambling sector. Mexican authorities have not confirmed whether the suspended casinos are directly connected to the Hysa network, and investigations on both sides of the border remain ongoing.
#Mexico #MoneyLaundering #CasinoEnforcement #AML #OFAC #FinancialCrime #Regulation #CrossBorderCrime #Compliance
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