MEXICO CITY -- Mexican authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the former director of state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos in an anti-corruption push by the new administration.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office on Dec. 1 on vows to stamp out endemic public corruption but to not target former government officials, defended the case on Wednesday as the continuation of an investigation that began under his predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto.
Attorney General Alejandro Gertz told Mexican broadcaster Televisa on Wednesday that efforts to locate former Pemex chief Emilio Lozoya have not been successful but that the case against him is solid. Also on air with Televisa, Lozoya's personal lawyer, Javier Coello, suggested that Pena Nieto be called in for questioning.
Lozoya managed Pena Nieto's campaign for president before being placed at the helm of Pemex from 2012 to 2016.
The case against Lozoya centers on the 2015 sale of a fertilizer plant by steel-maker Altos Hornos Mexicanos SA, or AHMSA, to Pemex for what auditors say was an inflated price.
Investigators said Lozoya appears to have received a substantial personal payment for facilitating the purchase, at the expense of taxpayers. His accounts have been frozen.
Business on 05/30/2019