SAT Uncovers Network Suspected of Laundering 10 Billion Pesos

We’re back. We have many topics to cover—many topics, each more important than the last. I just want to pause for a brief moment to alert you to a highly relevant piece of information featured on the front page of the newspaper *Reforma* today. 

Abel Barajas reports that the SAT—Mexico’s tax authority—has uncovered a network that laundered 10 billion pesos. The Attorney General’s Office has initiated criminal proceedings in what constitutes the second-largest money laundering case on record: 10 billion pesos. 

The total value of these operations is roughly equivalent to the annual budget of either the Foreign Ministry or the Interior Ministry. Specifically, the report states that the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General’s Office detected one of the largest money laundering schemes in Mexico over the last decade—a scheme involving this staggering figure of 10 billion pesos—carried out over a period of less than three years. 

*Phew!* In less than three years: 10 billion pesos laundered. This sum falls within the same range as the annual budget allocated to the Foreign Ministry; or, to offer another comparison regarding the sheer scale of the money involved, the Interior Ministry, for instance, has an annual budget of 9 billion pesos—so this figure is nearly equivalent to that 10-billion-peso mark. 

The key point here is that this case centers on the operations of three companies—Optimización Dalga, LOIS, and OHAT—some of which have been definitively designated by the SAT as “shell companies” (*factureras*) used solely for issuing fraudulent invoices. 

So, there you have all the details regarding a matter of great significance—specifically, a criminal enterprise that, according to the ongoing organized crime investigation, operated exclusively during the periods spanning January 3, 2016, to April 30, 2018, and July to October 2019. 

During these periods, these corporate entities recorded 17,566 deposits totaling 9,631.8 million pesos. 17,566 deposits. Thus, thanks to Abel Barajas’s reporting, we now have confirmation that this network—which laundered a staggering 10 billion pesos—has indeed been uncovered. 

The second-largest money laundering case on record. There are other cases—such as Black Wall Street Capital and that involving a Sinaloa Cartel operative—valued at $6 billion and $15 billion, respectively; however, this one totals $10 billion. So, there you have a piece of relevant information that was published today in the newspaper *Reforma*.

Source: Aristegui Noticias