Two former Mossad agents had dinner with two high-ranking Pemex officials in an upscale restaurant in Mexico City and recorded their conversation. One of the former officials reveals an extensive bribery scheme.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal released 2017 recordings featuring former Pemex deputy director , José Carlos Pacheco, who describes the corruption networks and bribery schemes inside Pemex .
The recordings were made by a private investigation agency, Black Cube , which proves that Pemex officials conspired to bankrupt company Oro Negro . They are also part of an extensive investigation launched by the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission against Pemex.
According to the WSJ , in October 2017, two former Mossad agents who now work for Black Cube met with José Carlos Pacheco in a restaurant in Mexico City . The agents posed as intermediaries for a wealthy investor from the United Arab Emirates , who was interested in purchasing Oro Negro .
The agents asked if Oro Negro would obtain better contracts with Pemex if the fictitious UAE company they were representing bribed Pemex officials and asked how the bribery scheme worked. Then Pecheco starts to explain the mechanism.
Pacheco
goes on to explain that several Pemex officials accept payments through family members or through simulated consultancies , established to launder money .
“There are deputy directors, for example, who used their son to receive payments and everyone knows it,” he said.
According to Pacheco , there were Pemex officials who created a shell company in Singapore and another executive who created 20 companie s, which were controlled by his father, to accept and launder money.
Pacheco
also said that Emilio Lozoya a sked for between USD $50,000 and USD $100,000 for a meeting.
In the recordings, it can also he heard that former Pemex officials asked for up to USD $5 million in bribes .
Yet the most explosive statement made by Pacheco involves Enrique Peña Nieto, the former Mexican President . According to Pacheco , Carlos Morales , who was considered as the second in charge at Pemex for many years and who worked as the director of Pemex Exploration and Production (PEP) , raised MXN $2,000 million for Enrique Peña Nieto 's presidential campaign in 2012 .
“ Carlos Morales supported Enrique Peña Nieto 's campaign with all the contractors: they raised over MXN $2,000 million. Then, he survived (in the position) for a year and a half.”
These conversations are being used by the company Oro Negro in a legal battle, where they claim that Pemex violated the contracts they signed because the company refused to pay bribes .
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