Mexican federal prosecutors have taken over two local investigations that include embezzlement charges against the governor of the Gulf state of Veracruz, an official said.
Reuters reported that Javier Duarte, from the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, is being investigated for diverting public funds, among other charges. The information was revealed by federal prosecutor Jose Guadalupe Medina in a conversation with reporters late on Wednesday Sept. 21.
President Enrique Pena Nieto’s PRI fared poorly in state elections earlier this year, including losing the governorship of Veracruz.
Duarte, who has been blamed for driving up the state’s debt and failing to contain a spike in drug gang crime, remains in office through the end of November.
In July, Pena Nieto’s office filed a suit with the Supreme Court alleging that new state anti-corruption offices set up in Veracruz and the tourist hub Quintana Roo were unconstitutional.
The state-level offices were perceived by critics to be aimed at shielding their governors from new federal anti-corruption laws.
Source: reuters.com