Mexican authorities struggle to keep up as cartels embrace crypto
The head of a major Mexcian financial intelligence unit has complained that local law enforcement has only a quarter of the staff it needs to respond to crypto laundering from cartels. Mexican authorities report an increase in the use of crypto assets to launder funds by criminal syndicates in Latin America.In a Dec. 8 report from Reuters, the head of Mexico’s finance ministry’s financial intelligence unit, Santiago Nieto, described how cartels use crypto to launder money obtained in illicit activities.Neito asserts Latin cartels will typically deposit their ill-gotten gains into various....
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Mexican drug cartels generate a lot of profit in the USA, which is one of their main markets. How is this money transferred back to Mexico? Banks – the old favourite. In the past, drug cartels had cozy relationships with banks, which facilitated the transfer of drug proceeds. In 2012, HSBC reached a $1.9 Bn agreement with the United States admitting that it had enabled Mexican drug cartels to launder billions of dollars through its counters. The charges include failure to monitor more than $670 Bn of wire transfers and more than $9Bn of purchases of US dollars from HSBC Mexico. The....
The U.S. Department of Justice charged the six individuals for alleged involvement in laundering funds from Mexican drug cartels after an investigation spanning years.
It’s unsurprising that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have found their way into the dangerous realm of drug cartels. According to law enforcement officials, cryptocurrency is developing as a new front in Latin America’s fight against gangs vying for control of massive illicit marketplaces for sex, drugs, guns, and people. In Mexico, it has been reported […]
Santiago Nieto Castillo, leader of the UIF, the Mexican financial regulator, has issued an alert that 12 cryptocurrency exchanges are operating illegally in the country. The regulator is now producing the necessary data for Mexican authorities to act against these exchanges. The institution receives information from 23 registered cryptocurrency exchanges reporting users’ transactions. Mexican Regulator on the Hunt for Unregulated Exchanges The Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), the Mexican financial regulator, issued an alert about 12 cryptocurrency exchanges that are operating....
Chamath Palihapitiya, founder of The Social+Capital Partnership, a co-owner of the Golden State Warriors NBA team and a former Facebook exec, sees Bitcoin as "schmuck insurance." To Palihapitiya, schmucks are the Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, AIGs, London Whales and other scandal-ridden "masters" of the financial services universe that have -- since the near-meltdown of the global economy in 2008 -- had an almost alchemical ability to turn gold into dross. Palihapitiya's embrace of a better alternative in his Bloomberg commentary "Why I Invested in Bitcoin" clearly echoes the frustrations....