Carlos Saúl Menem laundered money in Citigroup

Translated by The Narco News Bulletin

Mexico, June 13 (Notimex): The leader of the Democratic Revolution
Party (PRD, in its Spanish acronym) in the Mexican Congress, Senator
Jesús Ortega Martínez, denounced that Carlos Saúl Menem, ex-president
of Argentina, laundered money in subsidiaries of Citigroup, the
institution that is trying to acquire Banamex.

During today's session, the legislator said that according to reports
received from Argentina Senators and Congress members, Menem obtained
large quantities of money from the trafficking arms to countries at
war, funds that were deposited in banks that belong to Citigroup with
the goal of "washing" them.

He assured that there are proofs of the participation of the banks
belonging to Citigroup in the laundering of the money of Menem and
his collaborators, and Ortega Martínez asked Mexican authorities to
thoroughly analyze the proposal by Banamex to sell all its stocks to
the United States institution.

Citibank, belonging to Citigroup – said the legislator – is under
investigation by the United States Senate for laundering money from
narco-trafficking and is investigated for the recommendation that the
parent company, with its seat in New York, made to its Argentina
subsidiary to receive deposits from the Mexican narco-trafficker
Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

For the Senator, this situation must be analyzed in detail because if
it doesn't take urgent and immediate action, Mexico could find itself
in a situation similar to that of Argentina, in which the citizenry
has lost faith and respect for the institutions because of the
corruption fed by foreign credit institutions.

Ortega Martínez said that he knew that a California Congreswoman
asked the Federal Reserve Board to suspend the merger of Citibank
with the Travelers company, that at the time represented the most
important deal in that country.

I have presented diverse arguments and elements regarding the deal
between Citigroup and Banamex and that has permitted that the theme
of FOBAPROA and its possible implications of corruption in which
government officials and bank owners could have participated is a
theme that has revived among public opinion.

He added that all the accusations of corruption and money laundering
that have been made against Citibank must not be forgotten: "We
cannot permit them to be buried 40 feet underground. We cannot ignore
all the crimes committed during the bank rescue in Mexico."
.
The Senator warned that if the illegality is not combatted, if the
guilty parties are not punished and if the impunity is not ended, "we
will be at risk that the same thing happens to our country as
happened to Argentina's society, and Mexico will remain in a serious
economic and moral crisis."

Meanwhile, as proposed by Ortega Martínez, the Joint Congressional
Leadership Committee approved unanimously an agreement that the
Congress will ask the IPAB fund for the purchasing contracts on the
loan deals between FOBAPROA and the banks to verify whether any crime
was committed during the bank bailout.