By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A Veracruz state official demanded Monday that the government of Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa return the MP $25 million (USD $1.9 million) in cash seized February at a Toluca, Mexico state airport, according to Mexican news reports.
Subprocurador de Justicia del Estado, or deputy attorney general of Veracruz state Antonio Lezama Moo said at a press conference that he had forwarded a notification to the Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) or national attorney general that the office, which impounded the money, return it to Veracruz.
PGR officials impounded the cash stuffed into a suitcase and backpack after Policia Federal operatives arrested two individuals said to be Veracruz state employees. The arrests took place on a Friday night.
Since that time Veracruz officials have protested the money was intended to pay for a series of contracts by a Mexico state company 3 Industries for promotion services for three upcoming festivals.
Within a week of the arrests, an attorney for the company, Ricardo Sanchez Reyes Retana, announced to the press he was scheduled to meet with a representative of the PGR in Toluca to present a copy of the contact which called for payment by either electronic means or in cash.
PGR officials have vowed to retain the money until Veracruz officials can prove the money's origins.
Several politicians have jumped into the fray, including Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) president Gustavo Madero Munoz, who filed a complaint with the PGR just after the arrests demanding an investigation.
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| Gustavo Madero |
Mexico state, where the arrests were made and the cash impounded is the home state of Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, who is also Mexico state's former governor.
Pena Nieto, who is a telegenic and popular politician leads by double digits over his nearest rival in current national polls.
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| Enrique Pena Nieto |
Pena Nieto has also in the past ran afoul of election enforcement officials involving cash, including a Guerrero state complaint filed in January, 2011, which alleged Pena Nieto used public funds to help a political ally in the Guerrero state gubernatorial race. Angel Aguirre Rivero won the Guerrero governor's seat by 13 points.
Partido Revolucion Democratica (PRD) presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador came out with a charge that specifically named Mexico, Veracruz and Zacatecas as states for which the MP $25 million were to be used to buy votes the upcoming election.
To read previous reports by the author on the Toluca arrests and cash seizure, click here, here and here
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
wow.... what can anyone say about this? It's insane. The government is a joke.
ReplyDeletePeña Nieto looks plain evil.He might be the devil in disguised!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow messed up is gov there that they would even demand it back? And how messed up is the response that they "prove" where the money came from? Last time I checked gov doesn't put millions in a backpack to pay people. What a messed up joke Mexico is.
ReplyDeleteIM GLAD THEY SEIZED THAT MONEY FROM ENRIQUE PENA NIETO TO BUY VOTES BUT HIS GOT A LOT MORE THATS NOTHING I BET THEY GOT BILLIONS TO SPEND AND CORRUPT IFE THATS THE WAY TO BE A MEXICAN PRESIDENT MEXICANS DONT COUNT ITS THE MONEY THAT WILL BUY THE PRESIDENCY ITS JUST UN FAIR FOR THE PEOPLE WHEN WILL CORRUPTION END.
ReplyDeletePENA NIETO WANTS TO BE THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD BY BECOMING PRESIDENT HE IS WORKING FOR HIS POCKET POOR MEXICANS LOOKS LIKE NOTHING WILL CHANGE SOON.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the only thing that's important is where the money lands. God, I hate my country.
ReplyDeleteI think AMLO is right on, but Nothing will ever come of these accusations in Mexico,certainly not before the election. Also, No ONE believes they would have taken the money out of their bank, stuffed it in a backpack and suitcase, and went to pay off contracts for the government when they could have paid electronicaly. If they get the money back, the PGR people will have full pockets too. What a mess there is in Mexico. SAD.
ReplyDeleteDEVIL IS LOSE IN DISGUISED AS ENRIQUE PENA NIETO PURE EVIL HIS TOUNGE IS CUT IN TWO IN SNAKE FORM YOU BETER BELIVE IT.
ReplyDeleteI HEARD IN YOU TUBE THAT PENA NIETO KILLED HIS WIFE AND SEND PEOPLE TO RAPE OTHERS SENDING A MESSAGE TO HIS ENEMIES PRI EMPIRE IS WITH HIM CARLOS SALINAS DE GORTARI IS THE HEAD ON HIS CAMPAIGN AND HIS BILLIONS TO BACK HIM UP TO CORRUPT AGENCIES AS HE OWNS TELEVISA AND TV AZTECA EVIL ON THE RISE.
ReplyDeleteBIG RATT EVERY ONE KNOWS.
ReplyDeleteMexico just needs to learn to word every one of their laws with loopholes. No need for suitcases, Just Lawyers and Lobyists.
ReplyDeletei hope president obama would step in just to stop PENA NIETO FROM STEALING THE PRESIDENCY and make people happy we all like him his the best president of USA.
ReplyDeleteHermano,
ReplyDelete"Of course, the only thing that's important is where the money lands. God, I hate my country"
I think there needs to be peoples revolution of some kind,and line these corrupt bastards against a wall.Is there not one decent man amongst them,who wants to help his fellow countryman?
Not one ?
I wouldn't buy a used car off this motherfucker.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to be able to be a good judge of character to see what a fuckin joto this dude is.
This is the ultimate problem with politics the world over,and always has been.There is the lumpen proletariat=the sheep,there are the elite=moneyed.And this is how it always has been.In different countries,you get vastly different consequences,hence the unbelievable results now taking place in Mexico,similar consequences in Brazil,South America,Africa,North Korea,some Asian countries,world revolution and a change is needed to spread the vast wealth of the planet to the many instead of to the few.Just a quick example in this case in point.How can the richest man on the planet,come from Mexico?
Mexiacans will will be the ones voting not Americans they've already made up their mind nothing you say hear will change any thing
ReplyDeleteYou cant blame them for wanting pri back it exactly like bushes years they voted Obama in
PRI HAS DIRECT LINE WITH CARTEL EVERY ONE KNOWS THEY WILL TRY TO STEAL PRESIDENCY
ReplyDeleteif peña nieto killed his wife and many more people mexico will be screwed big time
ReplyDelete