MEXICO.- The remittances sent to Banco del Bienestar in Huetamo, Michoacán, they began to disappear. Those affected did not realize so soon, busy at their jobs in the United States or because their relatives are illiterate elderly women or wives busy with the house, the cows, the chickens, the pigs in the most remote villages.
“I trusted the bank because it was from the government and they left me with nothing”says José Reyes in an interview with this newspaper.
José Reyes, who usually works in Georgia, changed his name for security reasons: the region where it originates is one of the most insecure areas of the country: Tierra Calientewhich covers municipalities in both the state of Guerrero and Michoacán and is taken over by organized crime for kidnappings, land collection, extortion, drug trafficking…
Fraud at the Banco del Bienestar in Huetamo grew until around 100 account holders are affected from the communities of San Gerónimo, Purechucho, Baztán del Cobre, in Michoacán; La Calera, El Chivo and El Reparto, in Guerrero, says Alfredo de la O., a lawyer for those affected who prefers to use a pseudonym.
“Total they took around 35 or 40 million pesos (between 1.8 and 2.1 million dollars) from 2021”, affirms the litigant. “Because of the way they operated we think they are high level people who did it and that, as in this region, there must be other remote places in the country from which it is not known that they were also robbed”.
He Banco del Bienestar has 1,342 branches It is operating throughout the Mexican Republic and, initially, it intended to improve remittance commissions, although it does not have online banking services.
In past days, Banco del Bienestar made official the cancellation of the service for sending remittances to Mexico through the institution. She clarified in a press release that she will still distribute government subsidies and that she will henceforth be Financiera para el Bienestar (before Telecomm), in charge of remittances. She didn’t say anything about the robbery.
The announcement, far from giving peace of mind to those affected in Michoacán and Guerrero, leaves them with doubtsfears and uncertainty about their economic future and their security.
“Many have already been threatened”details the lawyer.
THE PROCESS IN DETAIL
The modus operandi for the Fraud against account holders by Banco del Bienestar In Huetamo it was as follows: as soon as the remittance arrived, the cashiers took the money with a cash withdrawal token. Forged customer signaturesaccording to testimonials.
“Most criminal complaints that have been made before the prosecutor’s office have been for fraud and, nevertheless, no process has been initiated against the cashiers”, warns De la O. “From the investigation it is clear that they constantly changed the cashiers, who were not the same person, but rather different managers over the course of two years that operated like an ant robbery”.
“Is suspicious that different ATMs have operated in the same way on their own Therefore, those affected believe that within the banking institution there is a network of corruption higher up.
The bank’s version is that many of the signatures were from the account holders. He has said that he “recognized the signatures” and that many do agree, however, he has not said the method he used for the expert opinion.
According to the law, The expert opinion of the signatures should be done by the Justice Prosecutor’s Office so that the Well-being Bank is not judge and party; the victims deny having signed the documents.
The migrant José Reyes details that while he was in the fields of Georgia as a temporary worker planting broccoli and harvesting cotton found out you couldn’t make deposits directly to your Welfare Bank account.
It seemed strange to him but he had to solve it and that’s why he sent it to his dad. “I wanted to build a house and that’s why I was saving”, details. The father would go to the Huetamo branch, withdraw the money and deposit it in his son’s welfare account.
“He cashier gave him a piece of paper written with pen ink as proof and that’s why I began to suspect more. I didn’t want an account in that bank but my parents told me that it was safe, that it belonged to the government, and that they had had one in Bansefi (former name of the bank) for years and they hadn’t had any problems”.
One day, browsing Facebook, Reyes read that several people from his town and the surrounding area complained of fraud at the Banco de Bienestar and asked his father not to deposit him anymore. That is why he only lost 56,000 pesos (about 3,000 dollars) and not up to 250,000 (13,000 USD) like some other migrants and his families.
The local authorities have recognized the problem. The version of the Michoacán Welfare delegate, Roberto Pantoja, told the local press that he “is taking care of the account holders” and that “the wool is not going to be lost”.
The Governor Alfredo Ramírez’s version is that the crime is not committed directly with the bank, “but rather other people took advantage to scam users”, but did not elaborate.
On the side of the state of Guerrero there are no pronouncements, despite the fact that the affected sent a letter to Governor Evelyn Salgadodaughter Felix Salgado, the politician who made his career based on social denunciation.
The resource of resorting to the help of executives in Mexico is because they are in charge of appointing prosecutors.
Meanwhile, the welfare bank officials intimidate those affected with the threat that if they do not accept only 50% of what they lost, they will not get anything back. Some have accepted; others continue fighting: José Reyes, among them.
“I’m not going to sit idly by”holds.
The problem is that He has already been summoned again to go to work in the US again as temporary. “My house dream lives on,” she says.
And that of justice too.
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