A new report that was released this month by Banco de Mexico – Banxico, one of Mexico’s leading financial institutions, is raising concerns about possible money laundering for funds being sent between the US and Mexico. According to Insight Crime “more than $28 billion in remittances have been sent from the United States during the first seven months of 2021” which is a drastic increase, up 23% from previous years.
While the majority of these remittances are credited to family members sending monetary support because of the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on employment, experts are cautioning that many of these funds may have a more sinister purpose. Organized crime groups have long disguised their wire transfers and bulk deposits as remittances to clean illicit funds, and now it is very likely that money laundering violations are also spiking with the record-breaking increase in legitimate remittances.
To keep up with the influx of cash moving between the two countries, we’re anticipating FinCEN and watchdog organizations will be opening new investigations and proposing tighter restrictions on remittances. In fact, at the beginning of 2021, FinCEN had enforced a $390 million penalty against Capital One failing to uphold Anti-Money Laundering (AML) protocols. Our team at Padula Law is staying on top of any new money laundering legislation as it is introduced to advise clients with the most up-to-date information.
