The former President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, was denounced on Monday before the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic, in connection with irregularities in the construction of the Estela de Luz monument; In the face of this, the ex-man said he is not responsible and assured that it is a slander.
Lawyer Gabriel Regino, who represents workers of the company III Services, charged with the overprices in the works, said that the complaint is for the alleged responsibility of Calderón and other former officials of his administration, in the crimes of abuse of authority, improper exercise of public service and usurpation of functions.
According to his accusation, former President Calderón allegedly promoted the work of estela de Luz – inaugurated in January 2012 – as part of an operation to divert public resources.
According to Regino, Calderón with the help of the head of the Office of the Presidency, Patricia Flores, allegedly orchestrated that a nearby man who was a director of a subsidiary of Pemex, Agustín Castro Benítez, take over the construction of the work.
In addition, meetings allegedly defined that a Committee would make restricted invitations to other companies to participate in the work, without making public tenders, in order to have it ready for the Bicentennial festivities, which did not happen.
The criminal @gabrielregino denounced the former president @FelipeCalderon before the @FGRMexico for an alleged diversion of resources in the construction of the #EstelaDeLuz monument pic.twitter.com/hwpe5vJpIr
— Rubén Mosso (@moss_rub) November 25, 2019
The Stela de Luz was very controversial for its cost, which was estimated at 398 million pesos and at the end was more than 1.304 million pesos.
“Monument to the Victims of War”, “Symbol of Corruption” and “Soon the Museum of Corruption Here”, were some of the slogans of the banners that dozens of protesters, mainly young people, carried on January 7, 2012, the day of their inauguration.
Its opening was scheduled for September 15, 2010, the day of the Bicentennial of the start of the Independence struggle, but its construction was delayed by 15 months due to technical difficulties and changes in the initial budget.
The then president of the Civil Service Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, Pablo Escudero Morales, formalized before the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) a criminal complaint against whoever was responsible for the alleged crime of fraud around the construction of the Estela de Luz monument.
The Federation’s Superior Audit also filed a complaint with the then PGR because the construction of the Stela de Luz paid an overprice to the steel used in the work.
According to the ASF, during the construction of the monument, various acts of corruption and severe embezzlement were committed to the treasury.
On April 11, 2013, a federal court ordered the apprehensions of 12 former officials accused of overpricing the work.
Regarding Regino’s denunciation, former President Calderón denied having any responsibility for corruption acts linked to the construction of the Stela de Luz.
“The complaint is a move not only to slander me, but to distract public opinion from serious national problems,” he said in a social media message.
Calderón accepted that there were irregularities in the work, “errors in the engineering of the project that caused delays and increased costs”, although he also said that it was only during his government when actions were taken against those responsible, to record them.
“It was the government itself that I had the honor of leading, that carried out the investigations that carried out the consignment in the PGR of those responsible, including the director who, also without foundation, claim close to the presidency and whom I do not know.”
I categorically deny that I have committed any act of corruption in the “Wake of Light”. The denunciation is not only slanderous and unfounded, but seeks to distract public opinion from serious national problems: The economy is going wrong and insecurity worse. Annex note pic.twitter.com/HkHr4ln2Oq
— Felipe Calderón (@FelipeCalderon) November 25, 2019
With information from Milenio
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