Embezzlement and looting

Mexican businessmen are reportedly being targeted by the U.S. Treasury for alleged bribery and influence peddling. Among the first indicted are Ramón Alexandro Rovirosa Martínez and Mario Alberto Ávila Lizárraga, whose projects are in the south-central Gulf of Mexico.

Roma Energy, a Houston, Texas-based company, is the name of the Pemex supplier that allegedly engaged in corruption. In 2016, it won a contract in round 1 to exploit a mature field in Paraíso, Tabasco, although the bribes—which included luxury items and cash—were allegedly delivered between 2019 and 2021.

Also in the crosshairs, according to online reports by Simón Levy Dabbah—a "wannabe DEA agent," President Claudia Sheinbaum downplayed—are other businessmen from the southeast, also in the energy sector, with family ties to the wife of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The alleged suspects, Santiago Jara Gutiérrez and Luis Abelardo Gonzáles, collaborate with Christoph Mayrhofer, the chief executive of Oneart Aventia, a company focused on the commercialization of wastewater treatment and purification technology. In Mexico, they represent the German manufacturer INTEWA GmbH, which has been in the market since 1993.

González served as head of the Renewable Energy Unit at SENER during the first part of López Obrador's six-year term. His (brief) tenure in public service was preceded by his involvement with the Ecoenergiza Corporation, a company specializing in equipment services.

Revolving doors. Three years ago, he began collaborating with the Sol y Litio association, while publicly expressing his support for Representative Ignacio Mier and the Secretary of the Interior, Adán Augusto López Hernández.

The dispute between Simón Levy and the businessmen is linked to the arrival of Chinese-backed investment projects in Mexico and involves the construction companies CNBM and Chendong Housing. Their projects are in Sonora, Nuevo León, and Puebla, where they sought to expand their businesses during the period when Sergio Salomón Céspedes Peregrina was interim head of the state government.

The cancellation of the projects initially led to a media dispute, which must now be resolved in US courts. "Beatriz has been accused by more than 10 businessmen of embezzlement and commissions," the businessman revealed. "I have all the witnesses, documents, and evidence that incriminate her. It's incredibly sad to learn of this and to have welcomed her family, given the trust I had in them."

Levy Dabbah indirectly alluded to Rodrigo Gutiérrez Müller and his nephew, Santiago Jara. Regarding the former, he revealed a month ago that he was involved in the development of a real estate project in Ciudad Modelo, which was canceled on the instructions of Governor Alejandro Armenta, who was committed to preventing extortion and dispossession.

After the governor of Puebla acknowledged its existence a few days ago, it became known that the "Cártel del Despojo" operated in this way: people would show up at properties or houses claiming to be the original owners and, with the approval of Oaxaca's judicial authorities, who ruled and endorsed this claim, they managed to acquire properties in Puebla. This process also involved judges and prominent public figures from that state.

The dispossessions have a long history. For example, it is known that a person named Carlos Juárez Camacho appropriated 170 hectares of the village of La Resurrección, in the heart of Angelópolis, located across from the Cuauhtémoc soccer stadium, eight years ago, to sell them to a private individual.

The residents, who have deeds dating back more than 50 years, as well as various injunctions, are keeping the case alive, hoping to recover their properties, including nine hectares of their Municipal Cemetery. That case occurred during the administration of PAN member Rafael Moreno Valle and was not resolved during the first Morena administration, led by Miguel Barbosa.