To quote Rosario Robles for the case of alleged millionaire detours of La Estafa Maestra, the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic (FGR) relied on a complaint filed by Mexicans against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI), and by the civil organization Tojil for alleged “abusive exercise of functions” and by bribery, a crime of corruption.
However, in the subpoena, the Prosecutor’s Office only accuses the former owner of the Sedesol and Sedatu for an alleged improper exercise of the public service; a crime that does not merit automatic pre-trial detention, so if the judge decides to link it to prosecution can face him at large.
FGR seeks to charge Rosario Robles over detours of The Master Scam
In an interview with Animal Político, Adriana Greaves, a lawyer from Tojil A.C., said that the subpoena of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to Rosario Robles is good news, although she noted that there is a concern about the fact that the Public Prosecutor’s Office cited her on an administrative matter and not for an administrative issue and not for a corruption, such as bribery or peculia.
“There is a concern that the Public Prosecutor’s Office will link the ex-working office solely for the crime of mis-exercising, which can be seen as an isolated event, having signed an agreement illegally, for example, and not going to investigate the corruption network” , stressed the lawyer.
For their part, ministerial sources told Animal Político that, so far, they do not have sufficient evidence to impute Rosario Robles to the crime of bribery, so the subpoena is limited to the alleged crime of improper exercise of the public service.
The complaint
The complaint was filed on September 18 of last year by MCCI’s Strategic Litigation Investigation Office (DILE), in collaboration with the civil organization Tojil A.C., before the owner of the Specialized Crimes Committed by Public Servants of the then PGR.
The complaint is based on the findings of the Master Scam journalistic investigation, as well as various reports from the Federation Higher Audit (ASF). He also cites a report of Reforma, based on information from the ASF, on the delivery of 700 million pesos of Sedesol and Sedatu in cash in several departments of Mexico City.
In addition to Rosario Robles, who was the holder of the Sedesol and Sedatu when the alleged millionaire detours occurred, the complaint covers “any official who belongs or has belonged” to the then Secretariat of Social Development (Sedesol) by award “undue” contracts to the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (UAEM), which, through a violation of the procurement law, outlawed for million-dollar ventures to phantom companies that did not provide any service and were left with the resources Public.
The complaint is for the possible crime of the “abusive exercise of functions” of the officials involved, and for the possible crime of “bribery”; that is, for an alleged bribe to authorities and/or public officials who would have received money from diversion through the Master Scam scheme.
Find out: Rosario Robles will appear in the audience, is innocent, says her lawyer
In addition, the complaint covers “any official” of the UAEM who has participated in the signing of the agreements with the Sedesol that investigated the Audit, and the partners and legal representatives of the companies contracted and paid for by the UAEM from those agreements. They are also reported for abusive exercise of functions and bribery.
The Master Scam is an investigation carried out by Animal Político and Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity that revealed a system of 128 phantom companies, through which in the federal government of Enrique Peña Nieto more than 3 thousand 433 million pesos were diverted.
The resources reached these companies after they had passed through eight public universities, which received the money from the federal government.
Among these universities is the aforementioned UAEM, while the units involved are 11, among them, the Sedesol (whose owner at the time was Rosario Robles); Banobras; Pemex; the then Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (Sagarpa), and the Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT).
Following the publication of the investigation, the Superior Audit published new reports in which it revealed that, in addition to those 11 units, sedatu (also directed at the time by Robles) also detected alleged million-dollar diversions to companies through other public universities and state communication systems, such as Telemax Sonora, or Radio and Televisión de Hidalgo.
The ASF may participate in the indictment
On July 29, the Public Prosecutor’s Office cited Rosario Robles to an initial hearing to “formulate imputation and links to prosecution for the crime of improper exercise of public service” by La Estafa Maestra.
The initial hearing is scheduled for August 8, in the courts of the Reclusorio Sur, in Mexico City. At that hearing, the supervisory judge will decide whether the evidence presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office is sufficient to link Rosario Robles to the process, and thus formally initiate the legal process, or if he discards the case.
In the subpoena to take Rosario Robles to an initial hearing for La Estafa Maestra, the Prosecutor’s Office pointed out as an “indirect victim” to the Federation’s Superior Audit, since this autonomous body has documented in multiple reports since 2014 the alleged millionaire diversions in Sedesol and Sedatu.
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As an “indirect victim”, the Audit will then be able to participate as an intervener of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the proceedings against Rosario Robles.
Last January 16, and following the complaint filed in September, the legal department of Mexicans against Corruption and Tojil also tried to recognize the status of victims by the detours of La Estafa Maestra, in order to participate as intervenant in the investigation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and to monitor the process from within and thus avoid possible “peace pacts” between the public administration and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
However, a supervisory judge denied the request of civil organisations, arguing that they are not directly affected by the alleged embezzlement, since they are not the holders of public remedies, but that the victim would, in any event, be his own Mexican state.
“It is essential for MCCI and Tojil not only that investigations are carried out with transparency and due process, but also that the necessary measures are taken to attain the truth and that, where appropriate, all public servants are punished and private company officials who may have participated in the corruption network that reflected the Master Scam investigation,” MCCI and Tojil said in a statement that you can read full here.
MCCI and Tojil by mureste4878 on Scribd Communiqué
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