Emilio Lozoya
18 July 2020
The former head of Mexico’s state-run oil company Pemex was extradited from Spain for investigation into corruption within this nation’s political elite. Emilio Lozoya,45, has reportedly reached a deal with prosecutors to turn over evidence that politicians were bribed to support an energy reform championed by former president Enrique Peña Nieto.
Lozoya, is accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from Mexican and foreign companies. He was a key figure in Peña Nieto’s 2012 election campaign.
He is accused of receiving a $3.5 million bribe in connection with Pemex’s purchase of a run-down fertilizer plant in 2013. In another case, he is charged with pocketing millions of dollars to steer contracts to Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction giant. Part of that money was allegedly paid while he was the international coordinator of Peña Nieto’s campaign. Peña Nieto has denied his campaign was financed illegally.
Lozoya is accused of diverting bribe money intended for the former ruling party, to buy a $1.9 million house for his family.
As part of a deal with the prosecutors, Lozoya offered to provide at least a dozen videos of Mexican lawmakers receiving bribes to approve the 2013 energy reform, according to the newspaper Reforma.
Mexican officials have often used corruption investigations to target political rivals. Lozoya case could be a cudgel used by López Obrador against his opponents.
The Washington Post reported.
