12 August 2020
Enrique Peña Nieto was Mexico’s president from 2012 to 2018. Prosecutors in Mexico have opened a corruption investigation after Emilio Lozoya, the ex-head of the state power agency, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), accused Mr. Peña Nieto of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and bribing MPs. Nieto partially funded his 2012 election campaign with bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
Mr Lozoya was extradited from Spain last month to face trial on corruption linked to Odebrecht. He returned to Mexico after making a plea bargain agreement with the prosecutors.
Mr. Lozoya said Mr. Peña Nieto and former Finance Minister Luis Videgaray had ordered him to funnel more than $4m in bribes from Odebrecht into the 2012 presidential election campaign. He further alleged that Mr. Peña Nieto and Mr. Videgaray, after coming into power, used a similar amount to bribe lawmakers to ensure the passage of a crucial energy reform bill through parliament. Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz considered the testimony important enough to launch an investigation into the matter.
Mr. Lozoya was a campaign manager of Nieto during his presidential election.
In the past, no former president in Mexico has gone to jail despite their governments being tainted by widespread corruption.
BBC News reported.
