A financial operator tied to the ongoing fraud and tax evasion probe of a Mexican border state governor-elect is also linked to the alleged use of shell companies to bypass international sanctions and sell overpriced goods to Venezuela.
Breitbart Texas obtained exclusive access to financial documents from several companies and individuals tied to an ongoing investigation into the campaign of the incoming governor of Nuevo Leon, Samuel Alejandro Garcia Sepulveda. The border state politician won his campaign in June and is expected to take office in October, however, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) are investigating him under allegations that he and relatives funneled illicit funds into campaign coffers.
One of the companies named in the investigation is Servicios y Asesorías Zulamak S.A de C.V., which allegedly helped move funds to the campaign. That company, filed under registry number SAZ160112590, is owned by two men with a criminal past, including the late José Adrián Parrilla Correa, who was a drug distributor for Los Zetas and was killed over a drug debt.
Company information revealed that the legal representative for Zulamak, Paciano Campos Joaquin, is a businessman. However, Paciano Campos Joaquin is tied to a separate investigation for his alleged role in the fraudulent sale of food through shell companies to the Venezuelan government.
According to documents from an ongoing federal investigation in Mexico, Paciano Campos Joaquin along with another man, owns Comercializadora DDR S.A. de C.V. with registry number CDD160616M2A. Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit is targeting Comercializadora DDR in an operation known as “Cajas Clap,” which links the company to the receipt of more than $24 million USD from a shell company belonging to Alex Saab, a man identified by the U.S. as a financial front man for Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro. The Mexican company, and several others in Nuevo Leon, are believed to have sold low-quality food to Venezuela at inflated prices. Paciano Campos Joaquin has partial ownership in various companies which benefited from government contracts, documents from the investigation show.
The legal representative for Comercializadora DDR is listed as Armando González Huguet, another businessman in Nuevo Leon who had partial ownership in companies with lucrative government contracts in the border state.
Various business documents obtained by Breitbart Texas from the investigation revealed that the same notary who helped create Zulamak is the same attorney for Comercializadora DDR and other ventures for Huguet–Alida Bonifaz. The notary also helped Governor-Elect Samuel Garcia in the purchase of a large home in Monterrey.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
Gerald “Tony” Aranda is an international journalist with more than 20 years of experience working in high-risk areas for print and broadcast news outlets investigating organized crime, corruption, and drug trafficking in the U.S. and Mexico. In 2016, Gerald took up the pseudonym of “Tony” when he joined Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project. Since then, he has come out of the shadows and become a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.