2003
On October 22, 2003, a federal grand jury in Corpus Christi, Texas, returned a 33 count indictment against Rufino Serna Muñoz and Carlos Mitre, of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Jose Luis Balderas, of Crystal City, Texas, in connection with an allegedly fraudulent international bank debenture and overseas commodity trading investment program promising returns of 3% to 50% per month, with no risk, operated under the names 3M Limited and 2M International. The indictment alleges that the scheme was conducted from January 1, 1998 until July 13, 2002 and that funds to be used for the trading program were instead used for the Defendant's personal purposes and to repay prior investors, often described as a "Ponzi "scheme. The indictment, which is pending in the United States District Court, Southern District Of Texas (Cause # C-03-289) alleges numerous counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. This was a cooperative investigation conducted by the State Securities Board, FBI and IRS and is being prosecuted by the Office of the United States Attorney, Southern District Of Texas, Corpus Christi Division.