Gulf Cartel, a criminal organization headquartered in the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas (where he served as mayor). The laundered money is believed to have granted the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas "political influence" in the state of Tamaulipas. Nonetheless, Yarrington has publicly acknowledged that he is subject of the probe but denied any links to organized crime. Yarrington's lawyer, in addition, said that the ex-governor has no connection with organized crime, and that the accusations against him are attempts made by other people in federal investigations to "improve their own situations." Yarrington has not been officially charged with any crimes, but U.S. federal prosecutors filed two civil forfeiture cases against him, seeking to seize more than $7 million U.S. dollars in properties. Yarrington's associates Fernando Alejandro Cano Martínez, a businessman from Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, and an alleged financial operator of the Gulf cartel, was indicted for conspiracy to launder money and commit bank fraud on 22 May 2012. The indictment charges Cano Martínez with using a number of corporations in Texas to launder money for the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization in Mexico, to then using millions of dollars as bribes for politicians in Tamaulipas. The bribes, which were paid directly to the politicians since 1998 or earlier, were used to convince the authorities to not intervene in the illegal activities of the Gulf cartel. Cano-Martínez controlled the bribes directed to the politicians, and established corporal entities in Texas to hide the nature of his criminal activities. Court records show that he had "one or more unindicted co-conspirators" working with him that helped him obtain a $6.7 million loan to buy a 46-acre property in San Antonio, Texas. Prosecutors are seeking a $40 million forfeiture from Cano-Martínez's assets. The indictment also alleges that Cano Martínez used millions of dollars in loans from a number of U.S. banks to invest in real estate and for an airplane of his own. From the years 2007 and 2009, Cano Martínez and his associates used at least 10 different bank accounts in Mexico to move millions of dollars to a Mexican money transmitter, and then moved that cash to U.S. bank accounts. If convicted, Cano Martínez may face up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering charges against him. Warrants have been issued for his apprehension in both the U.S. and Mexico, since he is currently at large. On 24 May