Guillermo Héctor Álvarez Cuevas (born 8 September 1945), better known as Billy Álvarez, is the former general director of ''La Cooperativa La Cruz Azul S.C.L.'', former president of the Mexican football club Cruz Azul, former footballer, and wanted fugitive. Álvarez Cuevas is currently wanted by

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

in 195 countries on various crimes including multiple accounts of

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

, and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

. As of September 2021, his whereabouts remain unknown. He is the son of

Guillermo Álvarez Macías Guillermo Álvarez Macías (16 October 1919 – 18 December 1976) was a Mexican general manager of the co-operative cement company Cemento Cruz Azul from 1955 until his death in 1976. Álvarez Macías led the company's re-foundation into a coopera ...

who was the founder and first general director of the Cruz Azul cooperative.

Early life

Guillermo Héctor Álvarez Cuevas was born on 8 September 1945, to Guillermo Álvarez Macías and María del Carmen Cuevas Saldaña in the town of Jasso, Hidalgo. Álvarez Cuevas is the eldest of three siblings: Jose Alfredo, María del Carmen and María Gilda. Álvarez briefly played professional football at

Cruz Azul Hidalgo Club Deportivo Cruz Azul Hidalgo, also known as Cruz Azul Hidalgo, was a professional football club in Mexico who last played in the Liga Premier league of Mexico. Their stadium was the Estadio 10 de Diciembre located in Ciudad Cooperativa Cruz ...

as a forward in 1976.

Career

In 1986, Álvarez became president of the football club Cruz Azul. He was later appointed chairman of Cooperativa La Cruz Azul S.C.L on 1 July 1988.

Criminal Indictments

On 28 May 2020, the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera froze the financial accounts of Álvarez, his brother José Alfredo Álvarez, and ex-vice president of Cruz Azul Víctor Manuel Garcés, citing

and financial ties to

shell companies A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...

worth over 300 million pesos (approx. US$15 million). Their investigation suggested between 2013 and 2020, 1.2 billion Mexican pesos (US$60.6 million) were transferred from the Cruz Azul Cooperative into personal offshore bank accounts, namely in the United States and Spain. On 26 July 2020, the Attorney General of Mexico, Alejandro Gertz Manero, issued an arrest warrant for Álvarez and Garcés for ties with criminal organizations. Arrest warrants were also issued for directors of the Cruz Azul Cooperative Miguel Eduardo Borrell, Mario Sánchez Álvarez, and Ángel Martín Junquera. Cruz Azul faced disaffiliation from the Mexican Football Federation as a result of Álvarez's legal issues. He resigned as the general manager of the co-operative and subsequently stepped down as president of the football club on 1 August 2020, after 32 years as acting president. Jamie Ordiales was then appointed as the co-operative's general manager and the club's president.

Personal life

Álvarez Cuevas's daughter, Mónica Álvarez Álvarez, died of brain cancer at the age of 24 on 16 December 2010.

References

Living people 1945 births 20th-century Mexican businesspeople 21st-century Mexican businesspeople Financial scandals Footballers from Hidalgo (state) Fugitives wanted by Mexico Mexican people convicted of money laundering Men's association football players not categorized by position Mexican men's footballers Universidad La Salle México alumni {{Mexico-footy-bio-stub