SUIT FILED AGAINST MONEY-WIRE SERVICES; PLAINTIFFS SAY MEXICANS SHORTED.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

Money-wiring service companies are cheating Mexican customers by secretly pocketing commissions when converting dollars to pesos, said a lawyer who filed two class-action lawsuits Thursday.

The lawsuits, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, name Western Union Financial Services Inc. and MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc. as two of a group of companies who allegedly make undisclosed profits from clients who wire money to Mexico.

The lawsuits claim the companies discriminate against Mexicans by charging fees three times higher than rates charged to Canadians. They also claim that the companies do not disclose the currency exchange rate to their customers and make profits as high as 20 percent from unsuspecting clients, attorney Fred J. Kumetz said during a news conference at the Mexican Consulate.

``These companies are abusing that relationship with their customers,'' Kumetz said. ``You can't manipulate that money or make a profit unless you get permission from the beneficiary.''

Richard Grad, an attorney for Western Union Financial Services Inc. would not comment on the case Thursday. Cathy Rebuffoni, a spokeswoman for Travelers Express, a Minneapolis-based company that owns MoneyGram, called the lawsuit groundless.

``MoneyGram is fully in compliance with the rules and regulations regarding disclosure,'' Rebuffoni said. ``MoneyGram forms are printed in English and Spanish, and customers find MoneyGram a safe form to send money to Mexico.''

The same two lawsuits were filed in Federal court in November but were dismissed.

Andres Perez, a Panorama City resident who is not part of the lawsuit, said he stopped using Western Union's services when he found a friend who could deliver his money and letters personally to Mexico for cheaper rates.

``What can you do? What these companies charge is a lot,'' said Perez in Spanish as he stood outside a Western Union office in Panorama City, where he paid bills on Thursday. ``People will charge a lot no matter where you go.''

According to the lawsuits, one of the plaintiffs attempted to send $250 to Mexico through Western Union, but his relatives only received $225. Western Union told the plaintiff his relatives would receive 1,750 pesos, when they should have received about 1,937 pesos at the exchange rate of 7.75 pesos per dollar, Kumetz said.

Kumetz claims that Western Union pocketed the difference in addition to the $12 fee they normally charge a customer for wiring money electronically.

Through Western Union and MoneyGram, Mexican customers send about $1 billion a year from the United States to Mexico, with Western Union handling about two-thirds of that business, Kumetz said.

Because of what he described as illegal practices, Kumetz estimates that about $100 million a year doesn't reach its intended recipients in Mexico.

``The law requires them to transmit the money or its equivalent. They cannot take a secret profit,'' Kumetz said.

The Mexican Consulate has received many complaints since 1995 from Mexicans living in Los Angeles about high fees paid to send money to their homeland, said Mexican Consul General Jose Angel Pescador Osuna.

``What worries me most is that they charge Mexicans so much when they charge Canadians a third the amount. Why?'' Pescador said in Spanish.

The Consul General asked that companies pay the best exchange rate, provide instructions and information clearly and inform the customer of the exchange rate before handing over their money.

``It's a profitable business for the companies, but it has a negative impact on those who send money,'' Pescador said. ``It takes a lot of effort for our people to earn their money.''

But Rebuffoni said the exchange rate is out of the company's hands.