Ripped-Off Americans Sue Over Missing Mexican Millions
Jim and Ken Karger want to hold Monex responsible after a former bank employee allegedly stole their money.
Monex Grupo Financiero may wish that it had never done business with Jim and Ken Karger. The American brothers, who’re among a slew of expatriate investors who say they were ripped off, are doing what few in Mexico dare: taking on a bank in the nation’s courts.
About this time last year, more than 50 retirees in San Miguel de Allende, most of them American, found their Monex savings and brokerage accounts had been cleaned out. San Miguel is a city about 500 miles south of McAllen, Tex., that has long attracted tourists and retirees from north of the border. The victims’ personal banker, an English-speaking woman named Marcela Zavala Taylor, stopped all correspondence after millions of dollars went missing. Monex blamed Zavala, making a criminal complaint against her. It’s been arguing with clients about how much cash should be returned.