Butterfield Bank is giving full assistance to an investigation involving millions of dollars, allegedly connected to a fugitive former civil servant in Mexico, that were deposited at the bank.The US government filed a complaint last month to seize the money, which at the start of the year totalled some $2,275.544.41. The funds are currently frozen.Butterfield Bank said the money was invested at the bank through another locally regulated financial services company, and at no time has Hector Javier Villarreal Hernandez or any of his family members maintained accounts with the bank.Canada headquartered Sun Life Financial, which has offices in Hamilton, yesterday confirmed it was also “cooperating with the relevant authorities” regarding the investigation.Mr Villarreal was secretary of finance for the state of Coahuila, Mexico, between 2008 and 2011, and is facing charges in connection with forging state documents and fraudulently obtaining loans for millions from Mexican banks. He was arrested in Mexico last October and released on a $1m bond. He fled to the US and remains a fugitive.The money involved in the investigation was deposited at a Sun Secured Advantage Account, held at Butterfield Bank in Bermuda, having been transferred from a JP Morgan Chase Bank account in Texas. According to the civil forfeiture document filed by the US, the Texas bank account was held in the name of Mr Villarreal and an associate. Between August 2009 and April 2011 a total of $3.9 million was transferred to the Sun Secured Advantage account in Bermuda through three deposits, and three withdrawals were made totalling $1.9 million to buy real estate in Texas.The US government filed its forfeiture action on February 6 with the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas.A spokesperson for Butterfield Bank has confirmed the bank is “cooperating fully with local authorities regarding an investigation into the disposition of assets allegedly connected to one Hector Javier Villarreal”.He continued: “At no time has Mr Villarreal or any member of his family maintained accounts with Butterfield.“The assets in question were accepted by Butterfield from another locally regulated financial services institution and subsequently reinvested by that company. Under applicable regulations, the responsibility for the verification of the source of funds was that of the other institution.“Butterfield has adhered to all applicable anti-money laundering regulations and protocols in respect of its management of the monies received from the other institution. The funds in question have been frozen since the investigation commenced.”US court documents allege Mr Villarreal, who was paid around $8,172 per month in his job, together with associates fraudulently acquired $35 million and funnelled it into US accounts.