Mexico's former oil chief accuses ex-president of bribery
12/08/2020 12:26 PM
MEXICO CITY, Aug 12 -- Mexico's former President Enrique Pena Nieto accepted bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and bribed lawmakers, Emilio Lozoya, former CEO of Mexico's state oil company Pemex, said Tuesday.
Xinhua news agency reported that Lozoya, who is in custody on corruption charges for his participation in a bribery scheme, made the remarks to Mexican attorney general's office.
In a video message, Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero said that according to Lozoya, both Pena Nieto and his former Finance Minister Luis Videgaray participated in the bribery scheme and used part of the money to buy congressional votes to secure passage of a controversial energy reform bill.
Lozoya was recently extradited to Mexico from Spain to face charges of accepting US$10.5 million in bribes from Odebrecht between 2012 and 2014.
Some US$4.4 million in bribes was also used to pay for foreign political consultants to help Nieto's election campaign in 2012, Lozoya said.
More:
https://www.bernama.com/en/world/news.php?id=1869480
If you can recall, when Peña Nieto was running for the Presidency of Mexico, the national news in Mexico and in the US nearly drooled as they yammered endlessly about how "photogenic" Peña Nieto is, to the point you didn't want to read another word. They had NOTHING to say about his qualifications, his previous work, although they also adored gibbering about his beautiful television soap star wife.
They got the pretty little thing they wanted, and his wife. They also got a little thief, bless their hearts.
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