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Who is Emilio Lozoya, and what is he being accused?

From May 2019, the former director of Pemex was a fugitive from justice since then the Interpol had a red notice against him

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The Attorney General''s Office confirmed the arrest of Emilio Lozoya on Wednesday in Malaga, Spain, by a police division specialized in the persecution of fugitives.

The former general director of Pemex accused of money laundering, bribery, and tax fraud in connection with the purchase of a "second hand" fertilizer plant.

Who is Emilio Lozoya, Austin?. Emilio Ricardo Lozoya Austin has a degree in Economics from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, a Law degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and he is also a professor from Harvard University.

Lozoya Austin was part of the international affairs office during the campaign and transition period of former President Enrique Peña Nieto, where he was appointed head of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). A position he held from 2012 to 2016. During that period, the government entity purchased the Pajaritos plant for 475 million dollars, for which, on May 27, 2019, an arrest warrant was issued against him.

The Financial Intelligence Unit requested his bank accounts to be frozen, as well as his sister, Susana Gilda, and the owner of Altos Hornos de México, Alonso Ancira Elizondo.

According to the 2017 Public Accounts report of the Superior Audit Federation, the acquisition of the fertilizer plant Agro Nitrogenados was not beneficial for the oil company stating that the assessed investment was 223 million dollars, estimating 250 million dollars more. By opening the investigation against Emilio Lozoya, the Attorneys General Office managed to seize different properties of the former director, such as a house located in Las Lomas of the Miguel Hidalgo.

Lozoya''s defense, headed by lawyer Javier Coello Trejo, argues that those who must be investigated for the cases mentioned above are the members of the Pemex Administrative Council. Namely, the Secretaries of Energy, Economy and Finance: Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, Ildefonso Guajardo, and Luis Videgaray.

Coello Trejo said that there is a video where he will give "names, hairs, signs, everything," that surrounds the case.

Last July, LA SILLA ROTA published the intricate network of companies constituted in tax havens, bank transfers between them in Swiss banks, and financial institutions in Mexico. There is a link to the Lozoya Austin family and alleged bribes of the Brazilian construction company.

In early May 2019, the Attorneys Generals Office informed that the investigations against Lozoya began in January 2017 and that, "for years it did not obtain judicialization, as The Federal Public Ministry presented all the elements before the Judge of Control. All the necessary proof to achieve the legal result favorable to the interests of the federation in a case that, for a long time, was clamped down in a very critical way, "he explained.

Shipyard

On January 29 of 2020, Octavio Romero Oropeza current director of Pemex reported a purchase for 5.1 million euros of a shipyard in Spain - which was close to being in a bankruptcy process - approved by Emilio Lozoya in 2013 when he served as director of Pemex.

This shipyard "Hijos de J. Barrera, S.A." has losses of 50 million euros.

According to Romero Oropeza, during one of the morning conferences of President AMLO, the purchase presented many irregularities. In September 2019, a lawsuit was filed at the Attorney General''s Office for the crime of fraudulent administration.

(Traducción: Valentina K. Yanes)