Alejandro Gertz Manero
About
Alejandro Gertz Manero was the national coordinator of Mexico’s anti-drug-trafficking campaign in 1976, Mexico City’s police chief from 1998 to 2000 and the country’s first national security secretary from 2000 to 2004. The escape of notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman from a high-security prison in 2001 occurred during Gertz’s tenure as national security chief. He is a member of the Citizens’ Movement party and a former member of the Chamber of Deputies in the Mexican Congress.In the data
Gertz was vice president of Jano Ltd., a personal investment company incorporated in the Cayman Islands for “tax purposes,” according to Appleby records. He was appointed in February 1998, a few months before being appointed Mexico City’s police chief. His late brother Federico – an accountant and economist – was Jano’s president and beneficial owner.
The company became a client of Appleby’s in 2006 after the law firm bought the trust and company-management business of Ansbacher, a Cayman bank and Jano’s former agent. At the time of the transfer, Jano was considered a “profitable” company, but there was “no documentation regarding [its] source of funds,” and due diligence on the clients was not adequate, according to an internal memo.
Appleby withdrew its services in 2008 after failed attempts to obtain some transfer documents. The company was closed in 2009 according to the Cayman Islands registry.
Response
In an interview with ICIJ’s Mexican media partner Proceso, Gertz said he did not know about the existence of Jano. He said that his brother – who administered the family’s fortune – may have created the company and named him and his wife as officers because he trusted them. “I have never been involved with the management of a company of this kind,” he said. “He never told me about it.”
Gertz told Proceso that he intends to investigate the status of the company and its assets further because it may have implications for the inheritance that his brother left to his family.
