An exclusive article by Alan Rivera Prieto, about the story of Antonio Jimenez Perez.

Dirty money always finds a place to hide. Sometimes, that place is the last one you’d expect: a bank that’s supposed to protect it, but instead helps conceal it.

In the world of finance, Citigroup, known as Citi, is one of the largest and most powerful banks on the planet. But this story isn’t about success or smart business. It’s about how dirty money, criminal money, made its way into the banking system. And how a senior executive risked everything to expose it.

Antonio Jiménez was no ordinary employee. He was a Divisional Director of Insurance at Banamex, a Citi subsidiary, where he led a team of over 50 bankers and managed relationships with high-net-worth clients. Under his leadership, the unit handled over $400 million in assets and achieved national sales records. His position gave him direct access to key bank operations. And when he noticed irregularities, he decided to speak out. We spoke with Antonio Jiménez. This is his story.

A Banker With a Conscience

Antonio Jiménez worked at Citi Mexico. He attended high-end meetings in luxury hotels with elite clients. But one day, in 2013, he heard something that left him cold: a plan to move money from the United States to Mexico without U.S. authorities noticing. In other words, helping people hide their money. And that, clearly, is illegal.
Jiménez decided to report it internally. He sent an email to the bank outlining what he had seen. But instead of launching an investigation, his superiors punished him. They cut his bonus, lowered his salary, and pressured him to leave. He was ultimately forced to resign in 2014.

The Secret Operation

What Jiménez had uncovered was a high-risk scheme. According to his testimony, Citi was helping its wealthiest clients hide money through secret accounts and opaque corporate structures designed to erase the money trail. This is known as money laundering.
Why does it matter? Because that money could come from drug trafficking, corruption, or fraud.
And when banks help hide it, crime thrives.

The Silence of the Powerful

After resigning, Jiménez filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor in January 2014.
That November, he proposed a settlement to Citi and its General Counsel, Rohan Weerasinghe. He never received a response. Instead, Citi hired the high-priced law firm Littler Mendelson, spending millions in legal fees over five years, far more than the $1.2 million Jiménez was seeking.
Jiménez accused Citi of harassment, defamation, cutting his bonuses, lowering his salary, and issuing threats (The case was registered under files 2015-SOX-00014 and 2017-ARB-00031). He says he was locked in a windowless office where two bank attorneys told him: *“Sign the damn severance”, a check already written for just three months’ salary. At the time, Jiménez earned $140,000 a year.

In 2015, during hearings in New York, Citi tried to wear him down. In court transcripts and video recordings, according to Jiménez, lawyers can be seen intimidating him, even turning off the cameras when he discussed secret accounts at Citibank Banamex USA and their operations. One lawyer, identified as Mike W., warned him: *“This interrogation will last a month, and you’re staying here that whole month to answer.”*

The Whistleblower Reaches Washington

Since 2015, Jiménez has contacted several U.S. government institutions: the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). He even had direct contact with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and his legal team. Over the years, he has consistently submitted emails, recordings, and documents as evidence.

His message is clear: Citi is not just any bank; it plays an active role in large-scale money laundering.

Fines That Don’t Stop Citi

Many of Jiménez’s claims were later confirmed. In 2015, Banamex USA, a Citi affiliate, was shut down and fined over $100 million. In 2020, under Donald Trump’s first term, Citi paid another $400 million for failing to fix previous violations. And in July 2024, during the Biden administration, the Federal Reserve and the OCC imposed another $136 million fine for repeated breaches.
But the fines don’t seem to hurt. According to Jiménez, for Citi, these are just the cost of doing business. Meanwhile, its executives continue to make millions. In 2024, the bank’s CEO, Jane Fraser, earned $34.5 million in compensation, while publicly assuring that everything was “under control”.

The media backed it up: in July 2024, the Financial Times reported that « Citi is the favorite bank for criminals in the U.S. to launder money. » (Citi was money launderers’ favourite bank, US law enforcement officials say)
According to The Wall Street Journal, criminal organizations were laundering millions in cash, stuffed in bags, using Citi’s ATMs across the U.S. (Bags of Cash From Drug Cartels Flood Teller Windows at U.S. Banks).

The Price of Telling the Truth

Jiménez lost his job, his home, and his savings. He claims Citi blacklisted him from the financial sector. Today, he lives on a Caribbean island, constantly in fear. Still, he insists: “I will keep telling the truth until someone brings justice.”
His story is more than a personal tragedy. It’s a lesson in what happens when the powerful choose to cover up the truth. Money laundering doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it needs banks, lawyers, and sophisticated systems to survive.
And it needs silence. But Jiménez refused to stay silent.

Why Does This Matter?

You might be asking: What does this have to do with me? The answer is: everything. Money laundering fuels corruption, weakens governments, and empowers criminals. It makes honest citizens pay higher taxes and erodes trust in institutions.
When a major bank like Citi helps conceal illegal money, it doesn’t just break the law, it breaks public trust.

What Comes Next?

Jiménez continues to fight for compensation and justice. He believes that with new leadership in Washington, Citi may finally be held accountable. Meanwhile, Citi remains one of the biggest banking giants in the world. Some of its top executives may be gone, but business goes on. And this story isn’t over.

Jiménez is currently writing a book about his case. As for myself, I have completed The Blackmail, which tells the true story of Citi’s fraud in the Oceanografía case, a scandal that destroyed Banamex’s value and derailed its sale. In both cases, there are already
serious conversations underway with platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO, all interested in bringing these stories to the screen.

The dark side of banking, in this case, Citi, reminds us of one powerful truth: when we witness injustice, we must not stay silent.

Because lies and crimes only survive… if no one dares to speak.

Note from FinCrime Central: This article exclusively reflects the views of its author.