Former PRI finance secretary arrested

who was a finance officer on the PRI's State Steering Committee, Pedro Mauli Romero Chávez, was arrested yesterday by members of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Electoral Crimes (Fepade), in coordination with members of the FGE's special group investigating cases of corruption and embezzlement of the previous administration.

The former secretary of finance of the PRI was arrested accused of the crime of electoral embezzlement for more than 60 million pesos, which was obtained from the retention of a percentage of the salary of state government workers during the six years of César Duarte Jaquez.

As secretary of finance of the PRI, during the period from 2014 to 2015 received 63 million 833 thousand 333 pesos directly from the treasury of the Ministry of Finance, which collected these resources from illegal retention to the first and second level workers of the state government.

Said "contributions" benefited the PRI campaigns during the six years of César Horacio Duarte Jáquez and, during the particular period in which Pedro Mauli Romero received the resources, campaigns for candidates for federal deputies, who are currently exercising their legislative activity .

It was in the city of Chihuahua that the arrest warrant against Pedro Mauli Romero Chávez was executed for the crime of electoral embezzlement.

Said person received in one year, monthly contributions in the amount of 3 million pesos plus an additional delivery in the month of December 2014 for 3 million 666 thousand 667 pesos and in December 2015 for 3 million 166 thousand 666 pesos with 99 cents .

In total, 63 million 833 thousand 333 pesos were received by Pedro Mauli Romero Chávez as secretary of finance of the PRI from December 2014 to December 2015.

Money has an illicit origin by being diverted from its public purpose, specifically payroll for state government workers, who were given non-voluntary withholdings of up to 10 percent of their wages.

Pedro Mauli has a procedure of electoral embezzlement in the federal jurisdiction, established by the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Electoral Crimes (Fepade) and was even linked to a federal judge's trial in June of this year.

Along with him, Jaime Herrera Corral, a former treasury secretary, were also linked; the former director of expenses, Jesús Olivas Arzate and the head of the programming and payments department, Miguel Ángel Mexquitic Aguirre.

In this case, the current president of the local congress, Karina Velázquez Ramírez, was also mentioned as a coparticipant in the crime of electoral embezzlement, but when she was a legislator, she had a constitutional right.

On October 9, the federal legislature will initiate a lawsuit against Karina Velázquez, requested by Fepade herself in order to be able to prosecute the crime against the president of the PRI in Chihuahua during several years of the César Horacio Duarte Jáquez .