What They’re Saying: Eric Hovde’s Bank Received Millions From Bank Linked to Mexican Drug Cartel
MADISON, Wis. — Last Thursday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed that a Mexican bank long reported to be linked to drug cartels flew $26 million in cash over the U.S.-Mexico border directly to Eric Hovde’s bank in California. Hovde decided to take their money despite this Mexican bank already being cut off by several other U.S. banks over “risk and compliance concerns” after reporting tied it to cartel activity.
Meanwhile, Hovde is still refusing to come clean about the foreign banks and governments with which his bank has done millions of dollars in business.
See below for highlights of what Wisconsinites are reading and watching about Eric Hovde and his questionable business partner:
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Banco Azteca, the 10th largest financial institution in Mexico, has had its share of problems in recent years.
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Accused in past news stories of having links to the Mexican drug cartel.
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Dropped as a financial partner by some U.S. banks because of “risk and compliance concerns.”
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And now caught up in a Texas bribery scheme with an American congressman.
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But Sunwest Bank, the Utah-based financial institution run by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde, doesn’t mind doing business with it.
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In December, Banco Azteca sent $26.2 million in cash to Sunwest on four airplane flights as part of a massive currency conversion called “repatriation,” records show. Hovde, who is running against Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, is chairman and CEO of Sunwest.
News 8000: Wisconsin Democrats question Eric Hovde’s bank connections to cartel-associated bank
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Last week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Banco Azteca, long tied to the Mexican drug cartel, allegedly flew $26 million in cash over the border to Hovde’s SunWest Bank last December.
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On a virtual call, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler expressed concern about the possibility of other similar dealings.
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“This raises questions about why Eric Hovde still isn’t being fully honest about which other foreign banks and governments are depositing money into Eric Hovde’s bank. What else is Eric Hovde hiding?” Wikler said.
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Wikler stated that if Hovde doesn’t reveal which other foreign entities his bank has done business with, it may be difficult for Wisconsinites to trust the Senate candidate.
WKBT: Wisconsin Democrats Are Criticizing Republican Senate Candidate Eric Hovde (video)
Eau Claire Leader Telegram: Democratic leaders question Hovde’s ties to Mexican bank
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Ben Wikler, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, held a conference call Monday morning to discuss a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel report last week, which showed Banco Azteca flew $26.2 million in cash to Hovde’s Sunwest Bank in Irvine, Calif. The article shows that many other U.S. banks have declined to work with Banco Azteca because of its reported ties to Mexican drug cartels.
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Wikler said he has always had concerns about Hovde operating the bank without divulging its clientele. Wikler questions what sort of influence they could have if Hovde were elected.
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“It’s part of what makes him so extraordinarily wealthy, and makes him so out of touch with Wisconsin residents,” Wikler said during the conference call.
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In recent years, Banco Azteca has also been accused of a bribery scheme in Texas.
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“Other American banks have stopped doing work with Banco Azteca out of fear of working with the cartels,” Wikler said.
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In Dec. 2023, right before Hovde joined the U.S. Senate race, the cash was flown to California on four separate planes, the news article indicates.
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“This is a very concerning revelation about Eric Hovde’s judgment and why he is doing this, when other banks have refused to do so,” Wikler said. “What other foreign banks would have influence over him? Eric Hovde has to come clean on what other banks he is working with.”
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Another recent news story showed many U.S. banks have declined to work with Banco Azteca because of “risk and compliance concerns,” leaving Banco Azteca holding large sums of U.S. currency with no place to offload it.
WisPolitics: Hovde Defends the Transaction with Banco Azteca
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Hovde posted a 2-minute, 30-second video on X over the weekend urging people to cancel their subscriptions to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In the video, Hovde calls the paper “nothing but a propaganda tool for the Democratic Party” after it wrote a story about his California bank receiving $26 million in a cash transaction from a Mexican bank that’s been linked to drug cartels. Hovde defended the transaction.
Alternet: GOP Senate candidate’s business received millions from bank linked to Mexican drug cartel
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On Thursday, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Sunwest Bank — whose website lists Hovde as its chairman and CEO — was the recipient of a $26.2 million cash transaction from scandal-ridden, Mexico-based Banco Azteca. The paper reported that Banco Azteca flew four planeloads full of cash from Mexico to the U.S. last December as part of a currency conversion known as “repatriation.”
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Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesman called the new revelations about Hovde “extraordinarily concerning.” He accused the Republican Senate hopeful of being “willing to do anything to enrich himself, even flying cash across the border for a bank suspected of working for criminal groups that are pouring deadly fentanyl into our state.”
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In 2023, Reuters reported witnessing questionable cash transactions outside of Banco Azteca locations in the town of Costa Rica, which is in the state of Sinaloa (the namesake of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel). The outlet was reporting on the prominence of the cartel using remittances — or money sent by mail — as part of its money laundering operations.
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Outside of Mexico, Sunwest has also done business with multiple foreign governments, which has put Hovde under increased scrutiny in his campaign to unseat two-term Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) this November. During an interview with a far-right podcast, Hovde downplayed concerns of foreign influence, saying: “Who cares if a foreign government has a deposit in my bank?”
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Eric Hovde is a smiling stretch of California that the Republicans parachuted into Wisconsin in an attempt to beat incumbent Democratic senator Tammy Baldwin. Hovde’s campaign was sucking wind even before Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel came along to drop this rock on its head.
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Banco Azteca, the 10th largest financial institution in Mexico, has had its share of problems in recent years. Accused in past news stories of having links to the Mexican drug cartel. Dropped as a financial partner by some U.S. banks because of risk and compliance concern. And now caught up in a Texas bribery scheme with an American congressman. But Sunwest Bank, the Utah-based financial institution run by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde, doesn’t mind doing business with it. In December, Banco Azteca sent $26.2 million in cash to Sunwest on four airplane flights as part of a massive currency conversion called “repatriation,” records show.
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This sounds like an institution with which you don’t want to do any kind of business whatsoever if you plan to run for the Senate from a state where you neither live nor work. It’s tough to bail out once you’ve bailed in.
RawStory: ‘Anything to enrich himself’: GOP candidate slammed after report reveals Mexican bank deal
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Wisconsin Democrats are demanding answers after a report revealed a Mexican bank accused of working with drug cartels dropped $26 million into GOP Senate candidate Eric Hovde’s bank, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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Hovde’s bank, the Utah-based Sunwest, arranged a deal last year to fly $26 million in cash from Mexico City to Irvine, California, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report.
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Banco Azteca was also cut off by other U.S. banks over reporting linking it to cartel activity, reported the local news site WisPolitics.
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Moreover, noted WisPolitics, “An executive of the bank was recently implicated in a federal indictment detailing his attempts to bribe a member of the U.S. Congress to get U.S. banks to once again do business with the bank.”
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