Luis Torres Santillan, a Tijuana City Councilman, has been arrested on money laundering charges in the United States. He is being held on $5 Million bail in a San Diego jail after being taken into custody Friday afternoon. Santillan is charged with ten counts of money laundering and could face up to 15 years in prison according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. He is not the only person arrested in the alleged scheme. 11 other defendants are named in the complaint.
Santillan is a citizen of both the United States and Mexico. He has only been in office for a few weeks before his arrest. He is a member of the National Action Party of Mexico known as PAN. A bail review hearing was scheduled for this week but was postponed to allow his attorney to further prepare the request to reduce the $5 Million bail. Law enforcement and prosecutors believe that the councilman presents a flight risk given his ties across the border and his ability to access large amounts of funds that could be obtained fraudulently. He entered a plea of not guilty but will remain jailed at least until January 3rd when the bail review hearing will be heard.
The details of the case are not widely known and have been kept from the public. A lengthy probable cause statement was kept sealed and two prosecutors handling the matter refused to discuss any aspects of the case that were not presented in open court.