President Pena Nieto's Probe of Properties Limited as Mansion Is Left Out Eric Martin - Bloomberg
go to original February 5, 2015

A conflict of interests probe into homes purchased by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, his wife and finance minister won’t seek to determine whether they actually paid for the properties, limiting the reach of any findings.

The investigation will try to decide whether developers who built the homes received favorable treatment when they later bid for federal contracts, Virgilio Andrade, the comptroller heading the probe, said Wednesday. The ministry won’t seek to determine how the homes were obtained and if they involved sweetheart deals, he said.

Investigators “don’t have the jurisdiction, and there is no system to investigate the proof of payments on commercial contracts when the subjects weren’t public servants,” Andrade told reporters in Mexico City. “We’re going to investigate subsequent contracts of private parties with the government. It’s important to say it in a clear way.”

Criticism from Pena Nieto’s political rivals has continued this week after he announced the probe on Tuesday and appointed Andrade, saying he wanted to improve transparency. The move came after months of protests brought tens of thousands into the streets, demonstrating against everything from the nation’s security situation to the alleged cases of cronyism with real estate developers.

Read the rest at Bloomberg

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!