Mexico investigating ex-president Pena Nieto for fraud
Mexican law enforcement authorities are investigating former
President Enrique Pena Nieto as part of an inquiry into corruption, the Wall
Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Wednesday.
Pena Nieto has become embroiled in the investigation of
Emilio Lozoya, the former chief executive of Mexico's state oil firm Petroleos
Mexicanos, or Pemex.
Lozoya is accused of corruption related to a wide-ranging
bribery and money-laundering case involving Brazilian construction firm
Odebrecht SA. Lozoya, who was arrested in Spain last week, has denied
wrongdoing.
"The attorney general's office has evidence that the
corruption of Lozoya in Agronitrogenados and Odebrecht reaches to the highest
level," a senior law enforcement official told the WSJ.
"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."
After his arrest in Spain, Lozoya's lawyer Javier Coello
Trejo, speaking to a Mexican television station, said his "client didn't
act on his own", implying he was following orders by superiors.
The Mexican attorney general's office did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
Odebrecht has been at the centre of one of the world's
largest corruption scandals for paying billions of dollars in bribes across the
region in exchange for public-works contracts.
Previous investigations have touched nearly every country in
Latin America, with presidents impeached and officials arrested.
Corruption scandals
Pena Nieto, who completed a six-year term in 2018, could not
immediately be reached for comment. He has previously denied receiving bribes
from Odebrecht.
During his mandate, the former president became entangled in
numerous corruption scandals, among those was the disappearance of 43 students,
spyware software purchased by the government to monitor journalists and human
rights lawyers, and early in his administration the purchase by his wife of a
mansion with financing from a builder who previously received state government
contracts while Pena Nieto was governor.
Former First Lady Angelica Rivera said she had money to buy
the house from her career as a soap opera star, but returned it to avoid any
controversy.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he does not want
to pursue former presidents in court, though he has suggested the possibility
of holding a referendum on whether former presidents should face trial.
Lozoya's detention was a major success for Lopez Obrador, a
leftist who won power on an anti-fraud platform and who has sought to paint
former administration officials as members of a corrupt elite since taking
office in December 2018.
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