ARGUELLES, FETED BY UTB, LISTED AS A YARRINGTON "PRESTANOMBRES" BY MEXICAN PROSECUTORS

By Juan Montoya
As the noose tightens around fugitive former Tamaulipas governor Tomas Yarrington, those acting as front men for his investments have began to seek protection from prosecution.
At least 14 individuals have been identified and said to have lent their names to the former governor to hide the breadth and depth of his investments with money allegedly procured as a result of his association with organized crime.
Among those is none other than Matamoros (and now Rancho Viejo) resident Sergio Arguelles.
In January, the Mexican Procuradoria General de la Republica (PGR), the equivalent of the U.S. Dept. of Justice, issued a directive restricting the movement out of the country of three former Tamaulipas governors and 43 other people for their alleged connections to organized crime.
The list included many prominent former government bureaucrats and not a few businessmen.
Among those was Sergio Ramon Arguelles Gutierrez, known as the "King of the Maquilas," one of Matamoros' most prominent businessmen with extensive business and real estate holdings in Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley, including numerous properties in Rancho Viejo, South Padre Island and McAllen.
All that notwithstanding, on March 23, the The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College School of Business honored Arguelles and two other area business leaders with a Business Appreciation Breakfast and recognition.
According to the news release by the UTB-TSC School of Business issued at the time, Arguelles, a native of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, attended Texas Southmost College as a young man. He founded his firm, FINSA, 35 years ago to provide Mexico’s emerging maquiladoras with the manufacturing facilities and services they needed to grow.
"Sergio and his son, Sergio Argüelles Jr., have led FINSA in the development of 14 Industrial Parks containing 60 million square feet of manufacturing space serving approximately 1,600 firms employing 200,000 people," the public release stated.
"The recent acquisition of Rancho Viejo Country Club increases FINSA’s presence in the U.S. Argüelles and his family have created FINSA Foundation which provides scholarships to children and young adults in various cities in Mexico," it stated.
However, the Mexican public, media, and the PGR are not as charitable as UTB-TSC.
"FINSA is not what it used to be," said a Brownsville businessman who does work with the maquilas in Matamoros. "To say that Arguelles is providing work for 200,000 people is ludicrous. How can they honor someone who has been linked to to hidden investments with the proceeds of organized crime? Even Mayor Tony Martinez was there honoring this guy."
Various news accounts say that the elder Arguelles is known in narcopolitico circles and that his $4 million purchase of Ranco Viejo, where he lives now, was made with proceeds from questionable sources.
Among the sponsors listed on the program are none other than Brownsville's Public Utility Board, the Brownsville Economic Development Corporation (BEDC), Ambiotech, Burton, McCumber and Cortez, Cardenas Development, Fred Rusteberg's International Bank of Commerce (listed in a DEA complaint as one of the banks that funneled millions in drug profits from Matamoros to San Antonio), FINSA, and Gobar Systems, among others.
The invocation was delivered by the Rev. Armand Matthew and the greeting and introduction of honorees was given by UTB-TSC President Juliet Garcia.
One of those listed as a "prestanombres" by the Mexican PGR was Antonio Pelaez Pier, a businessman who was said to be a front man for the purchase of El Fronton, a private island once owned by organized crime. He has already sought the protection of an an "amparo."
The amparo procedure, under Mexican law, has a much broader scope and field of application than the Anglo-Saxon writ of habeas corpus, since it protects not only against illegal arrest but against violation of any human rights granted in the Constitution and it is also a remedy to the encroachment of the Federal authorities on the jurisdiction of the states and vice versa.
Nevertheless, when the amparo is requested against unlawful or unconstitutional acts that affect or treat to affect human liberty, the writ of amparo issued by a Mexican Federal Court has a very similar effect to the writ of habeas corpus issued by a U.S. competent Court.
The details surrounding Arguelles' involvement as a front man for Yarrington have not been released.
However, some of the companies and corporations associated with Yarrington in South Texas are:
Cano y Gracia Financial Group; AGM Financial Group; Pesquera Investments; Royalty Homes; Lakeway 2; Grupo Premier; Ramos and Gracia Investments; RGC Development; Cantera-Parway Development Partners; Albens Group Premier International Holding, South PI AJCG; SPI Palace Sudivision Condominium Development; SPI Ling and Marlin Townhome Project, the majority of the properties are located in Brownsvsille and South Padre Island.