A couple of weeks in the past, we posted an article titled “What Does $1 Trillion Look Like?” Within that article, we posted a collection of pictures that demonstrated what varied quantities of money would appear like in the event that they have been specified by actual life. As we confirmed bigger and bigger quantities of cash, we clearly had to make use of photoshopped photographs. However, we did submit three real-life pictures that confirmed $226 million value of money stacked in a neat pile. As you are about to be taught, that pile was found within the again bed room of a suburban dwelling in Mexico City.
After seeing these wonderful mountains of cash, A TON of individuals emailed us demanding to know extra. How did this occur? When did this occur? What potential human circumstances might have unfolded to trigger somebody to retailer $226 million in money on the ground of a again bed room in a suburban Mexico City dwelling??? You requested, and now we’ll ship…
A Businessman With a Chemical Edge
The story begins with Zhenli Ye Gon, a Chinese-born businessman who moved to Mexico in 1996. On paper, he ran a wonderfully authorized pharmaceutical import/export firm known as Unimed Pharm Chem México. His enterprise was licensed to import tons of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine compounds generally present in chilly drugs like Sudafed and NyQuil. But those self same chemical compounds are additionally crucial substances in methamphetamine manufacturing, which is why their distribution is tightly regulated all over the world.
Somewhere alongside the best way, Mr. Ye Gon allegedly started re-directing a portion of his imports from authentic companies to the Sinola drug cartel. The cartel then used these precursor chemical compounds to fabricate huge portions of crystal meth which have been then shipped to the US.
The Raid
On March 15, 2007, Mexican federal police, working with the DEA—raided Ye Gon’s Mexico City dwelling. The home, nestled in a quiet neighborhood, did not appear like the headquarters of a meth empire. But when brokers reached a again bed room, they opened the door to what can solely be described as a money fortress.
Neatly stacked bricks of payments—organized by denomination—lined almost your entire flooring. In addition to $207 million in U.S. forex, authorities counted:
- $18 million in Mexican pesos
- $200,000 in euros
- $113,000 in Hong Kong {dollars}
- 11 Mexican gold bullion cash
- Expensive jewellery
- Seven luxurious automobiles
- A cache of automated weapons
The complete worth of the seizure: roughly $226 million.
Photo through US Department of Justice/Wikimedia Commons
The Fugitive and the Conspiracy Claim
Following the raid, Ye Gon fled to the United States. He was ultimately captured in a suburb of Washington, D.C., and detained. But fairly than quietly face fees, he claimed he was getting used as a pawn,pressured by the Mexican authorities to stash drug cash on behalf of then-President Felipe Calderón’s Secretary of Labor, allegedly to fund Calderón’s re-election marketing campaign. Ye Gon even urged the actual quantity hidden within the dwelling was nearer to $350 million.
Astonishingly, the U.S. legal case in opposition to him collapsed in 2009 after a number of witnesses recanted or mysteriously died. The fees have been dismissed, and Ye Gon was quickly freed.
The Story Gets Crazier
In September 2013, the Las Vegas Sands company (which owns a number of casinos across the globe) was fined $47.4 million by the US Attorney’s workplace.
What does that need to do with Zhenli Ye Gon?
The firm was being punished for failing to alert authorities to Zhenli’s suspicious playing actions that occurred over a several-year interval.
Between 2004 and the raid in Mexico in 2007, Zhenli managed to gamble away simply over $125 million, primarily at The Venetian (which is owned by Las Vegas Sands). FYI, each on line casino is obligated to alert American authorities of any suspicious transactions which will contain illicit cash.
Between 2006 and 2007 alone, Zhenli transferred $45 million in money to the Venetian from varied banks and cash exchanges positioned round Mexico. He proceeded to not solely blow your entire $45 million, but in addition an extra $35 million he obtained on credit score from the on line casino.
Zhenli was by far the biggest all-cash-upfront gambler within the historical past of Las Vegas. Thanks to those unprecedented losses, the casinos handled him like a God. They showered him with comped rooms, personal jets, meals, automobiles, women… we’re speaking comps which are past mortal creativeness.
In complete, Zhenli misplaced $85 million on the Venetian and one other $40 million at a small handful of close by casinos.
For some time, this was an amazing deal for the casinos. They have been earning profits hand over fist off one of many greatest whales in playing historical past. Unfortunately, after the raid in Mexico City, not solely did the cash cease flowing, however Zhenli refused to pay again that $35 million marker.
That marker loss, mixed with the $47.5 million effective, was giant sufficient to wipe out all govt bonuses on the Venetian for 2007. The losses and fines have been so giant that they prompted shares in Las Vegas Sands to quickly plummet. The firm’s CFO even needed to handle the Zhenli Ye Gon incident particularly throughout a quarterly convention name with buyers.
What Happened Next?
Although Ye Gon was briefly free, he was later re-arrested and extradited to Mexico in 2016 after almost a decade of authorized wrangling. The video embedded above reveals the second Yo Gon stepped off a airplane in Mexico after the extradition. He at present stays in a Mexican jail, awaiting trial on fees associated to drug trafficking and cash laundering.
And the $226 million? The Mexican authorities pledged to make use of it for anti-drug initiatives and healthcare enhancements, although experiences have raised questions on whether or not the funds have been absolutely accounted for.
