Exclusive: Treasury uses new tech targeting money lenders along Mexican border
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The U.S. Treasury Department is investigating 100 money-services companies along the Mexico border by using new technology to spot potential law-breaking, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The effort is another aspect of President Trump's wide-ranging border crackdown aimed at stopping illegal immigration and the cartels and companies that profit from it.
Zoom in: The operation is led by Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, called FinCEN, as it examines whether scores of money services businesses violated or failed to comply with anti-money laundering laws and rules. The businesses are not formal banks but provide financial services like them, and so far FinCen has issued:
- Six notices of investigation
- Dozens of referrals to the Internal Revenue Service
- More than 50 compliance outreach letters
Zoom out: Aside from adding a new tool to border enforcement, a Treasury official said, the "data-driven operation" shows how the administration is harnessing new technology that enabled FinCen to review:
- Over 1 million currency transactions
- 87,000 Suspicious Activity Reports that financial institutions are required to submit to the network to ensure compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act.
Between the lines: According to Treasury, money services businesses along the border are more exposed to potential money laundering from human trafficking and drug smuggling.
- To guard against law-breaking, the businesses are required to maintain clean records, verify customer identification and file Suspicious Activity Reports when warranted as well as follow other transparency rules.
- Businesses can face civil fines, injunctions and, ultimately, criminal charges for failing to follow the law.
What they are saying: In a written statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the effort is ongoing and that the department is utilizing all tools to stop terrorist cartels, drug traffickers, and human smugglers."
- "This sweeping operation will help root out potential cartel-related money laundering from the U.S. financial system."
