The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned three Mexican individuals and 13 Mexican companies it says are linked, directly or indirectly, to timeshare fraud led by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).
“The CJNG generates substantial revenue for its multi-faceted criminal enterprise through its timeshare fraud network,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen.
“The CJNG uses extreme violence and intimidation to control the timeshare network, which often targets elder U.S. citizens and can defraud victims of their life savings.”
Individuals named in the latest round of sanctions were Teresa De Jesus Alvarado Rubio, Manuel Alejandro Foubert Cadena, and Gabriela Del Villar Contreras, who the OFAC said were linked to timeshare fraud activities, debt collection or real estate fraud on behalf of the CJNG.
On March 2, the FBI issued a public service announcement to consumers concerning scammers targeting owners of timeshares in Mexico. Victims of this type of scam are encouraged to file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center by visiting https://www.ic3.gov.
Adds the OFAC: “At times, perpetrators of timeshare fraud misuse government agency names in attempts to appear legitimate. For example, perpetrators may call victims and claim to represent OFAC, demanding a payment in exchange for the release of funds that the perpetrator claims OFAC has ‘blocked.’”