(CNN Spanish) – Santiago Nieto Castillo, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico (SHCP), reported on Wednesday on his Twitter account that he ordered to freeze the bank accounts of the governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca, for alleged operations with resources of illicit origin.
“We will continue the investigations to determine whether the Francisco G network or the Tamaulipas government illegally financed electoral campaigns,” said Santiago Nieto on Twitter.
In addition, the National Migration Institute (INM) reported in a statement that it issued an immigration alert on Wednesday for García Cabeza de Vaca, at the request of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR).
According to the INM, the measure is produced to issue a report to the FGR about the air, sea or land movements of the governor of Tamaulipas.
The answer
The governor of Tamaulipas responded to the accusations of the Government of Mexico through a statement in which he assured that his presumption of innocence and the guarantees of due process were violated.
Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca reported that he is aware that an arrest warrant was issued against him by the Attorney General’s Office, despite the fact that the Tamaulipas Congress and the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation have determined that maintains its immunity from prosecution.
According to the Tamaulipas president, the accusations against him are politically motivated and he added that the Government of Mexico uses justice to “persecute and intimidate opponents.” He added that he will defend himself against what he considered to be “false accusations.”
This same Wednesday, the senators of the National Action Party (PAN), to which García Cabeza de Vaca belongs, classified the FGR’s announcements as “political persecution for electoral purposes” and “violation of the Constitution.”
Accusations
On March 19, Santiago Nieto Castillo accused Governor García Cabeza de Vaca of having participated in a series of irregularities that included obtaining more than half a million dollars that he did not declare between 2015 and 2019, as well as the alleged purchase of real estate from through shell companies used by the Sinaloa Cartel.
Nieto Castillo made the remarks during a virtual hearing of the Chamber of Deputies in which the FGR’s request to defraud the governor was analyzed, whom he pointed out as participating in organized crime activities and operations with resources of illicit origin.
That same March 19, the governor of Tamaulipas defended himself in a video posted on his Twitter account in which he criticized Nieto Castillo’s report and indicated that at the meeting information was exposed that “is not related to the case.”
In addition, García Cabeza de Vaca said that the presentation of the head of the FIU exceeded the functions of the head of the UIF and verified that the accusations against him were about “a political onslaught for electoral purposes” and a media lynching to distract public attention to the problems experienced in Mexico.