Thread: Mexican Billionaire Ricardo Salinas' U.S. Subsidiary Donated $250K To Trump's Inaugur

MAY 9, 2017 @ 03:15 PM 543
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Mexican Billionaire Ricardo Salinas' U.S. Subsidiary Donated $250K To Trump's Inaugural, FEC Shows

Dolia Estevez , CONTRIBUTOR

I cover Mexico's billionaires, politics and U.S.-Mexico relations

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Payday lender Advance America, an affiliate of Mexico’s Grupo Elektra, made a $250,000 donation to President Donald Trump's Inaugural Committee, Federal Election Commission documents show. Grupo Elektra, a Mexico-based retailer, is controlled by Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, chairman of Grupo Salinas, a conglomerate of retail, television and banking companies.

In 2012, Grupo Elektra purchased Advance America, the largest U.S. non-bank cash advance services company, for $780 million. Salinas Pliego also controls Mexico's second largest television broadcaster, TV Azteca. Both Grupo Elektra and TV Azteca are publicly traded.

Grupo Salinas chairman Ricardo Salinas Pliego (Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)


Citgo Petroleum, a U.S. affiliate of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, also donated $500,000 to Trump's inaugural committee, according to FEC documents.
While the government sets strict contribution limits on political campaigns, the only federal restrictions on donations to inaugural committees are a ban on foreign nationals.

Brendan Fischer of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit pro-transparency watchdog group, told me that as a general matter, foreign corporations fall under the foreign national contribution ban.

"However," he explained, "a domestic subsidiary of a foreign-owned corporation may make contributions or donations, provided that the funds are derived from U.S.-based operations and only U.S. nationals [meaning citizens and green card holders] are involved in the decision to make the contribution or donation."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/doliaes.../#2e68d816362c

As Venezuela Starves, Citgo Gave $500,000 to Trump Inauguration