Post by anenro on Feb 22, 2020 17:41:56 GMT 4
Mexico Investigating Ex-President Enrique Peña Nieto
Mexican law-enforcement officers are investigating former President Enrique Peña Nieto as part of the country’s highest-profile corruption case in years, a senior Mexican judicial official said.
The probe into the former leader is part of a broad case against Emilio Lozoya, the former head of state-run oil company Petróleos Mexicanos. Mr. Lozoya was arrested in Spain last week and is awaiting a hearing on Mexico’s request for his extradition. Mexican prosecutors have accused him of receiving millions of dollars in bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht SA and Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de México SAB.
Mexican government investigators, citing 2016 testimony from Odebrecht executives and other evidence, say Odebrecht paid $9 million to Mr. Lozoya to secure Pemex contracts while he was a top campaign official during Mr. Peña Nieto’s 2012 presidential campaign, and after he was named Pemex chief. They say Altos Hornos paid Mr. Lozoya $3.5 million to ensure the sale of a decrepit fertilizer plant, Agronitrogenados, to Pemex for a vastly inflated price.
“The attorney general’s office has evidence that the corruption of Lozoya in Agronitrogenados and Odebrecht reaches to the highest level,” the senior official said, referring to Mr. Peña Nieto. “The extradition and [any possible] confession of Lozoya are elements that together with ongoing investigations will decide if the former president is charged in the future.”
Mexico’s investigation into the Odebrecht allegations was opened in early 2017 but didn’t lead to any charges until after Mr. Peña Nieto’s term expired at the end of 2018.
If Mr. Peña Nieto is eventually prosecuted, it would be the first time any modern Mexican president faced corruption charges in court. In any case, charges aren’t likely in the short term, since Mr. Lozoya’s extradition alone might take several months, legal experts say.
Mr. Peña Nieto couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. In the past, he has denied any wrongdoing, as has Altos Hornos. The company’s chairman, Alonso Ancira, who was arrested in Spain in May 2019, also denies related charges against him. He is fighting extradition to Mexico in Spanish courts.
Mexican law-enforcement officers are investigating former President Enrique Peña Nieto as part of the country’s highest-profile corruption case in years, a senior Mexican judicial official said.
The probe into the former leader is part of a broad case against Emilio Lozoya, the former head of state-run oil company Petróleos Mexicanos. Mr. Lozoya was arrested in Spain last week and is awaiting a hearing on Mexico’s request for his extradition. Mexican prosecutors have accused him of receiving millions of dollars in bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht SA and Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de México SAB.
Mexican government investigators, citing 2016 testimony from Odebrecht executives and other evidence, say Odebrecht paid $9 million to Mr. Lozoya to secure Pemex contracts while he was a top campaign official during Mr. Peña Nieto’s 2012 presidential campaign, and after he was named Pemex chief. They say Altos Hornos paid Mr. Lozoya $3.5 million to ensure the sale of a decrepit fertilizer plant, Agronitrogenados, to Pemex for a vastly inflated price.
“The attorney general’s office has evidence that the corruption of Lozoya in Agronitrogenados and Odebrecht reaches to the highest level,” the senior official said, referring to Mr. Peña Nieto. “The extradition and [any possible] confession of Lozoya are elements that together with ongoing investigations will decide if the former president is charged in the future.”
Mexico’s investigation into the Odebrecht allegations was opened in early 2017 but didn’t lead to any charges until after Mr. Peña Nieto’s term expired at the end of 2018.
If Mr. Peña Nieto is eventually prosecuted, it would be the first time any modern Mexican president faced corruption charges in court. In any case, charges aren’t likely in the short term, since Mr. Lozoya’s extradition alone might take several months, legal experts say.
Mr. Peña Nieto couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. In the past, he has denied any wrongdoing, as has Altos Hornos. The company’s chairman, Alonso Ancira, who was arrested in Spain in May 2019, also denies related charges against him. He is fighting extradition to Mexico in Spanish courts.