LOS ANGELES -- Two of Mexico's biggest banks have agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges of money laundering, officials said on Monday, bringing a swift end to the most important legal cases stemming from a major investigation into the movement of illegal drug profits.
Officials said the banks, Grupo Financiero Bancomer SA and Grupo Financiero Serfin SA, will forfeit millions of dollars already seized by the government and pay fines of $500,000 each. In return for their pleas, which are to be entered in U.S. District Court here on Tuesday, the banks will probably be allowed to continue doing business in the United States, the officials said.The outcome is a triumph for a group of federal prosecutors, Justice Department officials and the U.S. Customs Service officials who resisted strong pressure from both the Mexican government and the banks to have the criminal charges dropped.
Officials said the Mexican campaign included appeals to Attorney General Janet Reno and other Justice Department officials by senior Mexican officials and by James R. Jones, a Washington lawyer for one of the banks who served as the U.S. ambassador to Mexico during the undercover customs investigation.
But the guilty pleas also raise questions about what many officials described as the reluctant handling of the case by some of the federal prosecutors in Los Angeles and about the consideration that was given by some in the Clinton administration to scaling back charges against the banks to avoid further strain on relations with Mexico.
Officials said that Confia would acknowledge its liability for violations of less serious money laundering statutes in the civil code and forfeit about $12.2 million that has been seized from its accounts. Citigroup, which bought the bank after it had been taken over by the Mexican government and after the alleged money laundering by its employees occurred, does not face any liability in the case.