Overview
- Mexico’s finance and security agencies suspended or blocked 13 physical and online casinos across eight states, froze related bank accounts and platforms, and filed criminal and fiscal complaints with the FGR and the Procuraduría Fiscal.
- Officials outlined a scheme using stolen or recruited identities, prepaid cards or prize codes, simulated bets and fictitious winnings to move funds offshore to jurisdictions including Romania, Switzerland, Malta, the United Arab Emirates, Panama and the United States.
- FinCEN identified 10 casinos in Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California and Tabasco as facilitating laundering for the Sinaloa Cartel and proposed special measures to restrict their access to the U.S. financial system, while OFAC sanctioned members of the Hysa family and an associate.
- The implicated Mexican businesses were designated high-risk and placed on the blocked list, and regulators signaled tighter oversight of digital gambling and AI-driven monitoring in coordination with U.S. counterparts.
- Media reports named two Grupo Salinas affiliates under investigation; the company confirmed official notifications and denounced political persecution, and reports indicated online platforms tied to its permits were inaccessible in Mexico.