FGR prepares a new indictment against Emilio Lozoya

On Tuesday, the former director of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Emilio Lozoya, will face an initial hearing via videoconference in the North Prison and in which the Attorney General's Office (FGR) would present a new indictment against the former official.

According to El Universal, the Prosecutor's Office, headed by Alejandro Gertz Manero, would accuse Lozoya Austin of tax fraud.

In the proceedings, which will be led by Judge Felipe de Jesús Delgadillo Padierna, the FGR will file charges against Lozoya Austin for an alleged fraud reported by the Federal Prosecutor's Office.

The media said that according to federal sources, the defense of the former director general of Pemex decided to appear by videoconference to hear the allegation of the FGR and to assert the arguments necessary to avoid linking to the process.

If this happens, this would be the third case against the person who was director of Pemex in the six-year term of Enrique Peña Nieto, since he is currently linked to the process of money laundering, irregular purchase of the Agronitrogenous fertilizer plant and criminal association by allegedly receiving bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrech t.

On April 11, an intermediate hearing was held for the Agronitrogenados case. The hearing, led by Judge José Artemio Zúñiga, lasted only 15 minutes in which the deferral was requested for a reparatory agreement, which was agreed favourably, since the parties intend to conclude an agreement that responds to the respective reparation of the damage.

The parties also stated that they are going to start holding talks to define and finalize the reparatory agreement, so it is estimated that it will take a couple of weeks longer.

It is worth mentioning that, although the reparatory agreement had already transcended in some media, neither Lozoya's defense nor Pemex had issued any position on the agreement until this morning, which was briefly presented to the judge.

However, according to some journalistic accounts, the agreement that could restore Emilio Lozoya's freedom consists of the payment of USD 10.7 million, which in addition to serving as reparation for the damage could grant him the conditional suspension of criminal proceedings against him.

Faced with the possibility of reaching a reparatory agreement, the civil organization Tojil, filed a formal request called amicus curiae to the federal judge of the Northern Prison, José Artemio Zúñiga Mendoza, to reject any reparatory agreement or criteria of opportunity that would allow former Pemex director Emilio Zúñiga Mendoza Lozoya, avoid a trial for the Odebrecht and Agronitrogenados cases.

In a statement, Tojil pointed out that any reparatory agreement or criterion of opportunity involving Emilio Lozoya violates the law, since it is a case of public interest related to a corruption case, in addition to the fact that the crime of money laundering does not allow reparatory agreements.

Regarding the determination for Emilio Lozoya to repair the damage caused to the treasury caused by the overpriced purchase of the Agronitrogenados plant, for which he is accused of money laundering, Tojil assured that according to the criminal framework, the criminal settlement is not appropriate for this offense.

They explained that the law provides for this type of “forgiveness” only for crimes followed by complaint, for wrongful crimes that are guilty (unintentional) or for property wrongdoing (such as theft or fraud), so in the opinion of Tojil's lawyers, the case of Emilio Lozoya does not fit into any of these cases.

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