MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded sharply Thursday to U.S. government sanctions blocking transfers from three Mexican financial institutions, saying Washington hasn’t shown evidence of its allegations of money laundering.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced the sanctions Wednesday on the banks CIBanco and Intercam Banco and the brokerage Vector Casa de Bolsa, alleging that they had facilitated millions of dollars in money transfers for Mexican drug cartels.
Sheinbaum said during her morning news briefing Thursday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had showed no evidence proving that the institutions carried out any money laundering, despite repeated requests for such evidence.
“The Treasury Department hasn’t provided a single piece of evidence to show that any money laundering was taking place,” she said. “We aren’t going to cover for anyone, there isn’t impunity here. They have to be able to demonstrate that there was actually money laundering, not with words, but with strong evidence.”
The accused banks also fired back on the orders, rejecting the allegations and similarly citing a lack of evidence.
