Mexico City, May 31 2017- A new donor to the Donald Trump electoral campaign with links to Mexican companies has come to light: David McGrath, a shareholder of Sherman Financial Group, which owns 49.6% of Grupo Consupago, 49.8% of which is owned by the Chedraui family.
According to documents revealed by Chedrauileaks.com, which in the past weeks has made public the ties of diverse businessmen with Trump’s campaign, the most recent case being that of Ricardo Salinas Pliego, whose US company, Advance America, donated $250,000 to the presidential inauguration of Republican president-elect Donald Trump, documents that McGrath gave the Trump Victory Committee $25,000 (around $500,000 Mexican pesos) on October 7, 2016.
Consubanco, a subsidiary of Grupo Consupago, offers quick loans with high interest rates and credit cards through a network of locations, among them the Chedraui supermarkets in Mexico, generating $2.354 million pesos in interest payments in 2016 alone.
Ramón Chedraui Eguía is both the director of Consubanco and the American subsidiary of Grupo Chedraui (Bodega Latina Corporation). Ramón’s father, Antonio Chedraui Obeso, is also a Consubanco director. Both Ramón and Antonio are members of Grupo Chedraui’s board.
Members of the Chedraui Obeso and Chedraui Eguía families own 49.8% of Grupo Consupago S.A. de C.V., through Cubo Capital. Grupo Consupago is the owner of Consubanco, along with 10 other lenders and service providers: Consupago, Opcipres, Prestacción, Frecal, Presta Luz, Prestafiel, Comercializadora OFEM, Consupago Servicios, and 50% of La Tienda México and CIEP Procasa de Xalapa.
Annual interest rates on a Consubanco credit card could go as high as 177.8%, according to the first quarter 2017 reports Consubanco sent to the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Financial Service Users (CONDUSEF).
The Republican committee reported McGrath as an “investment banker” working for Sherman Financial Group, which is a network of companies that invests in consumers’ defaulted debts.
In 2016 they reportedly expected $2 billion in revenue. Sherman also owns a credit card bank that has 7 million customers, that in May advertised annual interest rates as high as 24.65% on purchases. A Sherman subsidiary is the largest purchaser and servicer of distressed consumer debt in the United States, totaling $196 billion as of October 2016.
The Trump Victory Committee was created by Donald Trump together with the Republican Party to accept large contributions and coordinate support for Trump before the election. The Trump Victory Committee split the donations so that the maximum amount they could accept ($2,700) went directly to the Trump campaign, and the remainder ($22,300) to the Republican National Committee.
Documents are available at: http://ChedrauiLeaks.org/Consubanco/?lang=en
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About ChedrauiLeaks.org
ChedrauiLeaks.org is a project of the United Food and Commercial Workers, to investigate the connections between the Chedraui family and other Mexican elites as well as their links to business and property in the United States, the business and political activities of Mexican elites generally, and provide information about the struggle of El Super workers for a better life.
MEDIA CONTACT: Rigoberto Valdez: (213) 300-4345
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