Raquel Buenrostro Sánchez, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico): Mexico’s Anti-Corruption and Good Government Secretary, Raquel Buenrostro Sánchez, provided an update on investigations into a network of companies that allegedly diverted more than 2 billion pesos from electoral bodies between 2014 and 2023. She spoke in an interview with El Heraldo Televisión, hosted by Héctor Jiménez Landín.
According to the official, the scheme involved individuals and legal entities that issued invoices and used nominees to conceal the final beneficiary of the funds. The Financial Intelligence Unit, known as the UIF, has begun legal action, including freezing bank accounts belonging to 15 legal entities and 25 individuals linked to the case.
Buenrostro Sánchez explained that tracing the funds is complex because of the nature of the transactions, which show financial indicators associated with illicit activity. She said the UIF’s investigation is what has revealed that the ultimate beneficiary had been concealed behind the network.
The official said that when tracing those involved, investigators identified atypical profiles, including elderly people and students whose economic activities did not correspond to the business purposes of the companies named. According to Buenrostro Sánchez, this pattern is characteristic of networks that use the identities of others to operate.
She described how, once authorities approach a company, it stops invoicing and operating, and another dormant company is activated to take over.
Open data from the National Transparency Platform showed that the funds were mainly assigned by local electoral bodies. Veracruz, Nuevo León and Hidalgo account for the largest amounts, with 570 million, 314 million and 203 million pesos, respectively, during the period reviewed.
The secretary said that although irregularities existed in earlier years, a lack of communication between state and federal authorities allowed these companies to keep winning contracts. Authorities are now working to strengthen control mechanisms and sign agreements to prevent suppliers disqualified in one state from bidding in procurement processes elsewhere in the country.
