Cuernavaca, Mor. Patricia “N”, former secretary of Public Works during the past state administration of Graco Ramírez, was arrested Monday night in Jiutepec accused of the crime of abusive exercise of functions, by awarding the demolition and construction of a work for 75 million pesos to a “ghost” company, reported the entity’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
The arrest occurred around 9:30 p.m. in a hotel, apparently owned by him, located in San Gaspar, in this same municipality, when an arrest warrant was issued by a control judge on February 18.
On February 17, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office recalled, in an appeal hearing, in compliance with the Executory of Amparo, this prosecution obtained an order linking Patricia N to the process, for the aforementioned crime, and due to the seriousness of this, the magistrates of the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) determined to impose preventive detention, giving her five business days to appear before the Atlacholoaya Social Reintegration Center, but the former official did not comply with the magistrates’ determination, for which she was apprehended.
The prosecution assured that the arrest “is because it allegedly directly awarded the work ‘Demolition and construction of a building in the School of Higher Studies of Jojutla’ for more than 75 million pesos to a ‘ghost’ company, despite the fact that the Law of Public Works and Related Services establishes that direct awards must not exceed 2.5 million pesos.
He added that “in this case, Gonzalo ‘N’, former Undersecretary of Evaluation and Follow-up, and Hugo ‘N’, former General Director of Bidding and Contracting for Public Works, are also linked to the process for the crime of illicit exercise of public service.
In October 2018, the former secretary of public works in the government of Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Fidel Giménez-Valdés, revealed to The Day that during the administration of PRD member Graco Ramírez, 95 percent of public works contracts were awarded directly or by restricted invitation, and only five percent were put out to tender, violating federal and state laws.
On that occasion, Giménez-Valdés explained that of 1,996 contracts, 1,242 were awarded directly, 635 by restricted invitation and only 119 were tendered.
