Antonio Castanon (or ''Toño Castañon'') is a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

businessman.

Alleged money laundering

In November, 1995, Antonio Castañon and Paulina Castañon, Raúl Salinas's wife, were arrested in Geneva,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

after attempting to withdraw US$84 million from an account owned by Raúl Salinas de Gortari, brother of Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Their capture led to the unveiling of a vast family fortune spread around the world amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. A report by the U.S. General Accounting Office indicated that over $90 million were transferred out of Mexico and into private bank accounts in Switzerland and London, through a complex set of transactions between 1992 and 1994, using a private investment company named Trocca, all with the help of

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

and its affiliates. In 2008, the government of Switzerland turned over $74 million, out of the $110 million in frozen bank accounts held by Trocca to the government of Mexico. The Swiss Justice Ministry indicated that the Mexican government had demonstrated that $66 million of the funds had been misappropriated, and the funds, with interest, were returned to Mexico. The bank accounts were held at

Pictet & Cie The Pictet Group, known as Pictet, is a Swiss multinational private bank and financial services company founded in Switzerland. Headquartered in Geneva, it is one of the largest Swiss banks and primarily offers services in wealth management, ass ...

, Citibank Zurich,

Julius Baer Julius Bär Group AG, known alternatively as Julius Baer Group Ltd., is a private banking corporation founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it is among the older Swiss banking institutions. In terms of assets under managemen ...

Bank, and

Banque privée Edmond de Rothschild The Edmond de Rothschild Group is a financial institution specialized in private banking and asset management. Based in Geneva, the group is family-owned and independent, and encompasses the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations (philanthropic arm) ...

in Geneva and Zurich.
/ref> Other funds were returned to third parties, including Mexican billionaire Carlos Peralta Quintero, who had given the funds to set up the investment company. Antonio and Paulina Castañon were released a couple weeks after the arrest.

References

Bibliography

*Oppenheimer, Andres. ''Bordering on Chaos''. New York: Little, Brown, 1996.

External links

BBC news releaseBBC story about Salinas de Gortari's acquittal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castanon, Antonio Mexican businesspeople Mexican fraudsters Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Political scandals in Mexico