USA Sanctions CJNG Leaders Operating Timeshare Fraud Schemes Targeting Americans in Puerto Vallarta
The timeshare fraud scheme operated by the CJNG primarily affects US citizens deceived by phone calls
The United States announced sanctions against those responsible for perpetrating timeshare fraud schemes on behalf of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a Mexico-based Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SGOT).
Proceeds from these schemes, which victimize Americans, are used to support the cartel's narco-terrorist activity, the State Department reported in a statement.
Today's sanctions target CJNG leaders and an affiliate whose extensive corporate network was used in CJNG's timeshare fraud operations in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, a popular tourist destination.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four Mexican individuals and 13 companies.
The CJNG's timeshare fraud schemes rely on call centers staffed by fluent English-speaking telemarketers posing as brokers, attorneys, or government officials to trick victims into paying "fees" and "taxes" upfront. According to FBI data, between 2019 and 2023, American victims lost nearly $300 million to timeshare fraud in Mexico.
The United States is committed to protecting its citizens and dismantling illicit and harmful cartel activities, the statement said.
Finally, the document encourages victims of timeshare fraud to file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. For elderly victims, financial institutions can also refer their customers to the Department of Justice's National Elder Fraud Hotline: 833-FRAUD-11.
Today's action marks the fifth time OFAC has sanctioned individuals linked, directly or indirectly, to CJNG's timeshare fraud activities, resulting in the designation of more than 70 individuals and entities to date. The above measures occurred on March 2, 2023, April 27, 2023, November 30, 2023, and July 16, 2024.
The three high-ranking CJNG members most involved in timeshare fraud are Julio César Montero Pinzon, Carlos Andrés Rivera Varela, and Francisco Javier Gudino Haro. These three individuals have also been part of a Puerto Vallarta-based CJNG group that orchestrates assassinations of rivals and politicians using high-powered weaponry.