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Former and current Pemex officials carried out operations through which at least MXN $568 million were diverted; the case is being investigated as part of the “Estafa Maestra,” a massive fraud that involved universities, ministries, and companies.
Information obtained by EL UNIVERSAL indicates that during Emilio Lozoya's time as Pemex's executive director, the oil-company signed contracts with companies that didn't fulfill the requirements to become suppliers and paid for services that it didn't receive; some of the companies were shell companies and were involved in frauds such as the infamous Oceanografía fraud.
Moreover, the scheme used in Pemex is the same one used at the Sedesol and Sedatu.
According to the documents, during Emilio Lozoya's administration, Pemex officials signed contracts in irregular ways and some of them are part of the investigations carried out by the Public Administration Ministry (SFP).
So far, the investigation indicates that the diversion reached MXN $568,615,804.80. Meanwhile, the officials are also being investigated because they registered financial transactions that did not match their salaries at Pemex.
Companies such as Maheca and Activo Integral Cantarell, among others, signed contracts and agreements used to divert resources from Pemex Exploration and Production (PEP).
As a result, former Pemex officials Héctor Vera Argüelles and Miguel Ángel Lozada Aguilar are being investigated.
Vera Argüelles worked for Pemex until 2010 and then became Maheca's legal representative. Later, he obtained two contracts worth MXN $127 million. Company Maheca was created in 2010 in Yucatán and was meant to provide professional services but told banks it was a construction company.
The Pemex contracts obtained by Maheca were obtained through subcontracting by the Popular University of Chontalpa in Cárdenas, in the state of Tabasco. The university had previously signed an MXN $140 million agreement with the Undersecretary of Production in the Northeast Marine Region, under the PEP, to provide technical assistance in regards to production and well drilling.
From the MXN $140 million, the university billed MXN $82,863.20 and subcontracted Maheca for MXN $80,880.40 despite the fact that the company didn't have the capacity to provide the work Pemex required.
Authorities discovered that Maheca distributed the money between other companies such as Pen Commerce, which registered unusual financial transactions.
Between August and October 2013, Pen Commerce received transactions for MXN $89.9 million and then registered withdrawals for the same amount.
From that amount, 3.1 million were sent by Maheca. Between 2013 and 2014, Pen Commerce declared revenues for MXN $473 million and deducted MXN $471, therefore, the company entered into liquidation in 2015.
Pen Commerce was identified as a simulator by the Finance Ministry and is being investigated for operating as a shell company. It is estimated that it obtained at least MXN $2,311,200 for its participation in the so-called “Master Fraud.”
Meanwhile, Maheca's legal representative, Vera Argüelles, received transaction for MXN $8.1 million between 2005 and 2018 and withdrew MXN $2.3 million in Campeche, Veracruz, and Tabasco. Furthermore, between 2014 and 2018, he received resources from the Unique Workers Union at the Service of Commerce for MXN $4.2, $4.3, and $4.4 million during 2014 and MXN $5.5 million between 2017 and 2018.
Although Vera Argüelles left Pemex in 2010, authorities indicate that he stated that he earned MXN $7.6 million in Pemex between 2014 and 2017.
Miguel Ángel Lozada Aguilar, the other former Pemex official being investigated, worked as an administrator at Activo Integral Cantarell from 2009 to 2014. In 2012, he worked at the Undersecretary of Production in the Northeast Marine Region, under the PEP, where he worked until 2017.
While he worked at Pemex, he signed an agreement with the Popular University of Chontalpa in Cárdenas, in the state of Tabasco, for the university to provide technical assistance in regards to oil production and well drilling for MXN $140 million. The university then subcontracted Maheca to carry out the work.
In August 2015, Lozada Aguilar transferred MXN $2, 636,176 to a trust set up at Banregio; sold two properties MXN $6,195 million in 2007 and MXN $3.3 million in 2016.
Between June and October 2017, Lozada Aguilar received transactions for MXN $448,000 and withdrew MXN $427,000. According to his statements, when he worked at Pemex between 2013 and 2017, he reported earnings for MXN $15.9 million. Between 2015 and 2018, he traveled to Houston, Texas over 40 times, where federal authorities believe he owns businesses or investments.
Those who still work at Pemex
Current Pemex officials such as Luis Manuel Galván Arcos, Héctor Salvador Salgado Castro, and Luz María Zarza Delgado are also being investigated.
Galván Arcos is linked to irregular tenders worth MXN $170 million, where the Campeche and Chontalpa universities and Comalcalco Technological Institute transferred money to shell companies between 2013 and 2014.
Moreover, Galván Arcos received transactions for MXN $470,000 in 2005 and for MXN $4.5 million in 2017. Between 2015 and 2018, he received MXN $4.4 million from Pemex and between 2011 and 2016, he stated he earned MXN $14.1 million for his work at Pemex.
Salgado Castro allegedly signed a contract for MXN $90,213,000 with the Comalcalco Technological Institute, which then transferred the money to Integrated Reservoir Management of Mexico and the company was then dismantled after receiving MXN $83,898,000. For its role in the fraud, the university allegedly obtained MXN $6,315,000.
Zarza Delgado is investigated for her link to the bribes Obrascón Huarte Lain Mexico (OHL) paid to magistrates because during her time as the state of Mexico's legal adviser, between 2011 and 2017, the Superior Audit Office discovered that she took part in contracts that could be linked to the ”Master Fraud.”
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