GOP Senate candidate’s business received millions from bank linked to Mexican drug cartel

19 September 2024

New financial documents have been unearthed raising questions about the bank run by Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde.

On Thursday, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Sunwest Bank — whose website lists Hovde as its chairman and CEO — was the recipient of a $26.2 million cash transaction from scandal-ridden, Mexico-based Banco Azteca. The paper reported that Banco Azteca flew four planeloads full of cash from Mexico to the U.S. last December as part of a currency conversion known as "repatriation."

Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesman called the new revelations about Hovde "extraordinarily concerning." He accused the Republican Senate hopeful of being "willing to do anything to enrich himself, even flying cash across the border for a bank suspected of working for criminal groups that are pouring deadly fentanyl into our state."

In 2023, Reuters reported witnessing questionable cash transactions outside of Banco Azteca locations in the town of Costa Rica, which is in the state of Sinaloa (the namesake of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel). The outlet was reporting on the prominence of the cartel using remittances — or money sent by mail — as part of its money laundering operations.

Earlier this year, Banco Azteca was also accused of sending $238,000 to Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who has been indicted on multiple felony charges including bribery and acting as a foreign agent. The Wall Street Journal reported that the bank, which is Mexico's 10th largest financial institution, had difficulty complying with American money laundering laws and in developing "correspondent-banking relationships with American institutions that facilitate cross-border transactions in dollars, including large amounts of cash." This is likely where Sunwest came in.

Hovde argued that the Sunwest-Banco Azteca deal was on the level, and that the money his bank received from the Mexican institution was from tourist activity.

"Sunwest has an incredibly strong compliance and anti-money laundering program which is vetted and takes this area very seriously," he told the Journal-Sentinel. "Sunwest conducts extensive ongoing due diligence of its clients, and all underlying activities to prevent money laundering."

Outside of Mexico, Sunwest has also done business with multiple foreign governments, which has put Hovde under increased scrutiny in his campaign to unseat two-term Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) this November. During an interview with a far-right podcast, Hovde downplayed concerns of foreign influence, saying: "Who cares if a foreign government has a deposit in my bank?"

"It's like $200,000, and my bank's over $3.5 billion," he said. "So it's insane that they're trying to cause confusion in somebody's mind. This is what you have to deal with when you're running for U.S. Senate."

Click here to read the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's report in full (subscription required).

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