By Juan Montoya
There's trouble brewing in the old ranch.
That's right. A movement is afoot among the residents of Rancho Viejo to thwart the designs of Sergio Arguelles, the maquiladora and industrial park magnate from Matamoros who owns a good chunk of the resort to build more residences on parts of the golf course there.
Arguelles, linked to former Matamoros mayor and Tamaulipas Governor Tomas Yarrington as a "prestanombres," is said to have designs to build over the golf course he now owns with new homes.
In January, the Mexican Procuradoria General de la Republica (PGR), the equivalent of the U.S. Dept. of Justice, issued a directive restricting the movement out of the country of three former Tamaulipas governors and 43 other people for their alleged connections to organized crime.
The list included many prominent former government bureaucrats and not a few businessmen.
Among those was Arguelles, known as the "King of the Maquilas," one of Matamoros' most prominent businessmen with extensive business and real estate holdings in Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley, including numerous properties in Rancho Viejo, South Padre Island and McAllen.
He also happens to have been named as the Matamoros counterpart to United Brownsville.
A University of Texas at Brownsville Business School recognition of Arguelles' deeds reads so:
"The recent acquisition of Rancho Viejo Country Club increases FINSA’s presence in the U.S."
Various news accounts in the Mexican media say that the elder Arguelles is known in narcopolitico circles and that his $4 million purchase of Ranco Viejo, where he lives now, was made from questionable sources.
When he was honored by UTB, among the sponsors were Brownsville's Public Utility Board, the Brownsville Economic Development Corporation (BEDC), Ambiotech, Burton, McCumber and Cortez, Cardenas Development, Fred Rusteberg's International Bank of Commerce (listed in a DEA complaint as one of the banks that funneled millions in drug profits from Matamoros to San Antonio), FINSA, and Gobar Systems, among others.
The details surrounding Arguelles' involvement as a front man for Yarrington have not been released.
However, some of the companies and corporations associated with Yarrington in South Texas are:
Cano y Gracia Financial Group; AGM Financial Group; Pesquera Investments; Royalty Homes; Lakeway 2; Grupo Premier; Ramos and Gracia Investments; RGC Development; Cantera-Parway Development Partners; Albens Group Premier International Holding, South PI AJCG; SPI Palace Sudivision Condominium Development; SPI Ling and Marlin Townhome Project, the majority of the properties are located in Brownsville and South Padre Island.
However, some homeowners at the resort have let Arguelles know that they will not take his plans for their resort lying down and are actively opposing the construction plans.
They have already sought legal representation to forge a plan to oppose the plans. An email sent by the group states:
"Hello, we are like you! We're very upset, we think this is not right. We will send to the town a letter with all the names and address, like "support" them; but is the opposed, we want to let them know, that we count like owners. Please send us you address."
There's trouble brewing in the old ranch.
That's right. A movement is afoot among the residents of Rancho Viejo to thwart the designs of Sergio Arguelles, the maquiladora and industrial park magnate from Matamoros who owns a good chunk of the resort to build more residences on parts of the golf course there.
Arguelles, linked to former Matamoros mayor and Tamaulipas Governor Tomas Yarrington as a "prestanombres," is said to have designs to build over the golf course he now owns with new homes.
In January, the Mexican Procuradoria General de la Republica (PGR), the equivalent of the U.S. Dept. of Justice, issued a directive restricting the movement out of the country of three former Tamaulipas governors and 43 other people for their alleged connections to organized crime.
The list included many prominent former government bureaucrats and not a few businessmen.
He also happens to have been named as the Matamoros counterpart to United Brownsville.
A University of Texas at Brownsville Business School recognition of Arguelles' deeds reads so:
"The recent acquisition of Rancho Viejo Country Club increases FINSA’s presence in the U.S."
Various news accounts in the Mexican media say that the elder Arguelles is known in narcopolitico circles and that his $4 million purchase of Ranco Viejo, where he lives now, was made from questionable sources.
When he was honored by UTB, among the sponsors were Brownsville's Public Utility Board, the Brownsville Economic Development Corporation (BEDC), Ambiotech, Burton, McCumber and Cortez, Cardenas Development, Fred Rusteberg's International Bank of Commerce (listed in a DEA complaint as one of the banks that funneled millions in drug profits from Matamoros to San Antonio), FINSA, and Gobar Systems, among others.
The details surrounding Arguelles' involvement as a front man for Yarrington have not been released.
However, some of the companies and corporations associated with Yarrington in South Texas are:
Cano y Gracia Financial Group; AGM Financial Group; Pesquera Investments; Royalty Homes; Lakeway 2; Grupo Premier; Ramos and Gracia Investments; RGC Development; Cantera-Parway Development Partners; Albens Group Premier International Holding, South PI AJCG; SPI Palace Sudivision Condominium Development; SPI Ling and Marlin Townhome Project, the majority of the properties are located in Brownsville and South Padre Island.
However, some homeowners at the resort have let Arguelles know that they will not take his plans for their resort lying down and are actively opposing the construction plans.
They have already sought legal representation to forge a plan to oppose the plans. An email sent by the group states:
"Hello, we are like you! We're very upset, we think this is not right. We will send to the town a letter with all the names and address, like "support" them; but is the opposed, we want to let them know, that we count like owners. Please send us you address."
Will the world-famous golf resort be filled with the sounds of hammers and electric saws? Or will the homeowners thwart the plans of the millionaire?
9 comments:
He thinks he can do in the US what he does in Mexico: bullying and muscling over the commoners. He's got an expensive lesson coming.
Welcome to Rancho Viejomex. If the Immigration bill goes through We're going to be SKREW BIG TIME FROM THE VERY RICH AND THE VERY POOR MEXICANS!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds just like what United Brownsville needed....another crook. Along with Carlos Marin and local autocrats, seems like he simply traded in his Matamoros cartel for our version on this side...United Brownsville.
I can't imagine any group in Cameron County taking any action to "take up arms". The Rancho residents will use lawyers to fight their battles. The majority of citizens probably don't have any idea what is going on in local governments.....and they apparently don't care.
Watch out, Juan! These guys use real bullets.
Way back, in a lawsuit, RVCC agree to a restrictive covenant whereby none of the club owned property (golf courses) could be used for anything but recreational purposes.
Arguelles us is trying to break the covenant so he can build homes on the golf courses. This land is much more valuable as home sites than as golf courses.
Rancho is a golf community, and many folks bought here because of the club and golf courses. They don't want to see that go by-by and hence the ruckus.
I don't think the original articles set out enough details for readers to know what the rukus is all about.
Who cares?! How about some real news not pendejadas....
EL RRUKUS RRUKUS
y de seguro el pinche viejito de Rhi-Perez is there too, he's following this guy everywhere!!
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