Mexico anticorruption agency sanctions 35 officials, 3 companies with lengthy bans and millions in fines

Mexico's Secretariat of Anticorruption and Good Governance, in coordination with the Federal Administrative Justice Tribunal, has imposed sanctions on 35 public officials and three companies. The penalties include disqualifications lasting up to 15 years and fines exceeding 67 million pesos for serious and non-serious offenses.

These sanctions are the result of investigations by the Internal Control Bodies of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), Alimentación para el Bienestar (AliBien), the Institute of Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE), and the Mexican Postal Service (Sepomex). Evidence gathered demonstrated grave infractions, leading the Federal Administrative Justice Tribunal to issue the penalties.

At Pemex, two individuals received 10-year bans, while another received a 10-year ban, dismissal, and a 12.1 million peso fine for failing to formalize a contract for aircraft operation and safeguarding, and for validating payments for services not received in 2017 and 2018. Two other officials faced similar penalties for the same reasons.

In the IMSS, a 15-year ban was issued to an official from the High Specialty Medical Unit at the Occidente National Medical Center Hospital in Jalisco for failing to inform a patient about the risks of a surgical procedure in 2017. At AliBien, three individuals received 10-year bans, and a company was fined 6.9 million pesos for paying for over 13,000 boxes of dehydrated fruit without proof of delivery in 2019. Additionally, other officials and companies faced sanctions totaling 28.5 million pesos for paying for 50,000 cans of sardines without delivery evidence in 2019, and for using milk distribution contracts for purposes other than their intended use, involving the transport of books.