Mexico’s anti-money laundering agency announced Thursday that it has charged former President Enrique Peña Nieto with handling millions of dollars in possibly illegal funds. It is perhaps a sign that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is keeping his promise to fight corruption.
This would be the first formal legal accusation against Peña Nieto, despite a barrage of corruption allegations during his 2012-2018 administration. López Obrador made the fight against corruption the main issue of his government, but he had not acted against any of his predecessors.
The criminal complaint filed against Peña Nieto by the Financial Intelligence Unit does not mean that prosecutors have decided to file formal charges, but the head of the unit, Pablo Gómez, said that federal prosecutors received the complaint for the use of illicit funds and that they are doing research.
Gomez said Thursday that two companies run by Peña Nieto’s family received about $500 million in government contracts while he was president. He did not mention the name of the companies, but said that they were a kind of distributor, and that the former president was a shareholder.
Gómez added that Peña Nieto had received money transfers from a relative, apparently linked to the two companies, for around 1.3 billion dollars after leaving office. The official added that the accounts of Peña Nieto and those of the companies have not been frozen.
Before the process undertaken by the FIU, Peña Nieto assured that he will clarify the accusations against him and stated on his Twitter account that he trusts the Mexican authorities.
“I am certain that before the competent authorities I will be allowed to clarify any question about my assets and demonstrate its legality, within the legal procedures,” said the former president on Thursday when he reappeared on social networks.
Peña Nieto moved to Spain after leaving office and has not spoken publicly about a series of allegations.
Emilio Lozoya, director of the state-owned oil company during the Peña Nieto government, said that Peña Nieto and his right-hand man, then Treasury Secretary Luis Videgaray, ordered him to bribe legislators, including five senators, to support a controversial energy reform and other structural projects in 2013 and 2014.
Videgaray denies the accusations. Neither is facing charges in that case.
The fact that he was unable to convict any high-ranking official from a previous government has been an embarrassment for López Obrador, as has been the fact that Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero was unable to mount an accusation based on Lozoya’s complaints.
The no-touch attitude towards Peña Nieto has fueled speculation that López Obrador reached a gentlemen’s agreement with the former president in 2018. Peña Nieto allegedly obtained a promise of impunity in exchange for quickly acknowledging López Obrador’s victory in the presidential election. and give him unusual power during the transition.
López Obrador has limited himself to saying that revenge is not his forte and that Mexico must look to the future, not the past.
Last year, a national referendum on whether to try previous presidents accused of crimes was held at the initiative of López Obrador. It fell short of 40% turnout to be binding, and critics said the government did not need the public’s blessing to try people accused of crimes.
