A timeshare is a vacation property arrangement where multiple buyers share ownership, allowing them to use the property for a set period each year. Instead of purchasing a vacation home outright, timeshare owners split the costs and reserve time slots for their stays.
On August 13, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four Mexican individuals, and 13 Mexican companies linked to timeshare fraud led by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). These individuals and companies are based in or near Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist destination that also serves as a strategic stronghold for CJNG. A brutally violent cartel, CJNG is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization that is increasingly supplementing its drug trafficking proceeds with alternative revenue streams such as timeshare fraud and fuel theft.
“We are coming for terrorist drug cartels like Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion that are flooding our country with fentanyl,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
CJNG is one of the most powerful cartels in the world. It has conducted acts of violence, including attacks on the Mexican military and police with military-grade weaponry, the use of drones to drop explosives on Mexican law enforcement, and assassinations and attempted assassinations of Mexican officials. In addition to drug trafficking, the group’s core source of revenue, CJNG is also generating alternative revenue streams through fuel theft, extortion, and timeshare fraud, among other activities.
Mexico-based cartels have been targeting U.S. owners of timeshares through call centers in Mexico staffed by telemarketers fluent in English.
Beginning in about 2012, CJNG took control of timeshare fraud schemes in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, and the surrounding area. These complex scams often target older Americans who can lose their life savings. The lifecycle of these scams can last years, resulting in financial and emotional devastation of the victims while enriching cartels like CJNG.
The three senior CJNG members sanctioned who were most involved in timeshare fraud are Julio Cesar Montero Pinzon, Carlos Andres Rivera Varela, and Francisco Javier Gudino Haro. These three individuals have also been part of a CJNG enforcement group based in Puerto Vallarta that orchestrates assassinations of rivals and politicians.
Also sanctioned is Michael Ibarra Diaz. An ostensibly legitimate businessman involved in the tourism industry, Ibarra is engaged in timeshare fraud on behalf of CJNG.
“These cartels continue to create new ways to generate revenue to fuel their terrorist operations,” said Secretary Bessent. “At President Trump’s direction, we will continue our effort to completely eradicate the cartels’ ability to generate revenue, including their efforts to prey on elderly Americans through timeshare fraud.”
On August 13, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four Mexican individuals, and 13 Mexican companies linked to timeshare fraud led by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion.