Mexico freezes the accounts of the president of the Cruz Azul

The Cruz Azul cement factory in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.Héctor Guerrero.

The Financial Intelligence Unit of Mexico (UIF) has frozen the accounts of the leadership of the Cruz Azul Cooperative, which groups one of the most important cement companies in the country and the popular soccer club. The office under the Ministry of Finance has denounced the president of the cooperative, Guillermo Álvarez, and the directors Alfredo Álvarez and Víctor Garcés, for the alleged crimes of money laundering and organized crime, according to Televisa.

The spokesperson for the cement company, which supports its leaders, has rejected the accusations. The accounts of the Cruz Azul Cooperative, regarding its operation and operation, “are free with the aim of safeguarding the labor and salary rights of the workers of the various companies of the cooperative”, as reported this Friday by the UIF, an institution who filed the complaint with the Mexican Prosecutor for the alleged transfers to foreign accounts and purchases of real estate in the United States. The authorities of the Mexican League have reported that they have not received any report of the investigations carried out by the Financial Intelligence Unit and that they will collaborate in the investigation, if required.

The Cruz Azul cooperative was founded in 1934. The economic model has been unique in the cement industry in Mexico, which produces up to 10 million tons per year. Its headquarters are located in the State of Hidalgo, in central Mexico, although they have created three other production plants in Oaxaca, Aguascalientes and Puebla. The economic boom allowed cooperatives to found a soccer club in 1927 and in 1964 they reached the Mexican First Division. As the Mexican Football Federation prevented the naming of a team as a trademark, the cement tsars forced the name change of the municipality where it was headquartered, Jasso, to call it the Cruz Azul Cooperative City.

Within the Cruz Azul cooperative there is a direct confrontation between the dome led by Guillermo BIlly Álvarez, 32 years in office, and the dissident group. Cooperatives have not received detailed reports of the management of Cruz Azul and its businesses, according to an investigation by Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción last year and, in the last 15 years, the main managers have diverted resources from the company to take them to paradises. prosecutors. The diversion of resources has also been through a payment mechanism for alleged consulting services to companies that had already been singled out by the Mexican treasury for carrying out simulated operations.

The protests within the Cruz Azul cooperative escalated to the National Palace. Last December, the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, assured that he would investigate, through the Financial Intelligence Unit, what was happening with the cement company. Before the announcement of the freezing of accounts, the President Billy Álvarez took refuge in the face of any arrest warrant from the Mexican authorities.

On the soccer field, Cruz Azul is one of the most popular teams in Mexico and they have won the league eight times. Until before the covid-19 pandemic, the club was the fifth highest rated, according to Transfermarkt estimates. His best trail of successes occurred in the seventies, something that contrasts with the 22 years without winning the Mexican championship and which has earned him to be considered the eternal runner-up. The club’s management has also been criticized by the cooperativists who do not see transparency in the issues of hiring players. In the event that the Financial Intelligence Unit finds evidence of the alleged crimes, the soccer club may be vetoed, according to the statutes of the Mexican Federation.