Overview
- Federal agencies suspended physical venues, blocked online platforms and froze related bank accounts after detecting irregular operations across eight states.
- Authorities filed complaints with the Fiscalía General de la República and the Procuraduría Fiscal, and flagged the implicated companies as high-risk or blocked entities.
- The scheme exploited stolen or coerced identities using prepaid cards or prize codes to place or simulate bets, with casinos recording fictitious winnings and moving the funds abroad.
- Investigators cited unusual cash movements up to 50 million pesos and transfers through shell companies to jurisdictions including the United States, Romania, Switzerland, Malta, the United Arab Emirates and Panama.
- Officials withheld proprietors’ names during the active investigation, while media reported two affected casinos linked to Grupo Salinas; the company acknowledged notification and called the actions persecution.