Zeta’s racehorse cash tied to money laundering

AUSTIN — An alleged money-laundering organization that authorities say is tied to the Zetas cartel spent $25 million on quarter horses, a federal agent testified Tuesday during a trial here.
But José Treviño Morales, the older brother of Zetas leader Miguel Treviño Morales, also known as “40,” bought at auction just one of nearly 500 horses that agents ended up seizing at José Treviño’s ranch in Oklahoma, and at stables near Austin and in New Mexico, said special agent Steve Pennington of the Internal Revenue Services’ Criminal Investigation Division.
The rest were bought by nominees — front men acting on his behalf or for “the organization,” Pennington said.
One of those, Pennington said, is Francisco Colorado Cessa, a Mexican businessman.
He bought 121 horses, but by the time the feds raided the ranch and stables in June 2012 and seized the animals, only 41 remained in his name, Pennington testified.
By then, most had been moved in the name of Treviño or his alleged front companies related to quarter horses, which the feds allege were used by the Zetas to launder drug money.
The organization played a shell game, prosecutors say, shifting horses purchased with drug money between different owners so proceeds from their sales or race winnings appeared legitimate.
At least one horse was raced by the group at Retama Park in Selma.
“We had bulk currency from drugs shipped to Mexico,” Pennington said. “We had several wire (transfers) coming back from Mexico. The money was wired to banks in the U.S. for the purchase of quarter horses.”
José Treviño; Colorado; Fernando Solis Garcia, a purported horse expert; Jesús M. Huitrón, an Austin-area homebuilder; and his brother Eusevio M. Huitrón, all are on trial fighting a federal charge of conspiracy to launder money.
Pennington also testified that he and other agents examined records showing the organization made small deposits within short periods of time at a bank account in Laredo tied to the Huitrón brothers.
The point of making the small deposits was to circumvent a law that requires banks to report cash deposits of $10,000 or more, a crime called structuring.
As thousands poured into the account, money was forwarded to the bank accounts of others to pay for expenses on the horses — or at least to make it appear it went to expenses, but in reality it was a pattern of laundering, Pennington said.
Payments for horses and expenditures also came from an account linked to a woman named Edith A. Lopez Jonguitud of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, who “is associated with a Zeta accountant,” Pennington testified.
Attorneys for the defendants, however, tried to poke holes in the government’s case, and some argued their clients had no ties to the Zetas and only got involved because of their expertise in horses or training them.
Prosecutors could rest their case as early as today.

Source: mysanantonio.com