US seizes $2 mln in Bermuda account linked to Mexican official

MCALLEN, Texas, (Reuters) – U.S. authorities seized $2.2 million from a bank account they said was controlled by a former Mexican official-turned-fugitive who is accused of stealing public funds in a scheme that involved hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent bank loans, according to court papers released yesterday. Federal authorities seized the money from the Bermuda bank account believed to have been controlled by Hector Javier Villarreal Hernandez, a former finance secretary in Mexico’s Coahuila state on the border with Texas. He is wanted by authorities in a criminal case in Mexico, Kenneth Magidson, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said in a statement.