The shadow of corruption once again invades the closest circle of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), this time, in the person of Julio Scherer, who was his legal adviser until September 2021. Today he is involved in a possible case of influence peddling to favor a construction company.
An investigation by journalists Arturo Ángel and Zedryk Raziel for the media Animal, exposed the way in which the lawyer took advantage of his “legal powers and his influence in the federal government to stop an investigation that concluded that the concession of the Bicentennial Viaduct, which the government of the State of Mexico, under the management of Enrique Peña Nieto, was illegal, granted to the Spanish construction company OHL, today Aleática”.
The name of Julio Scherer appears in the investigation carried out today by the FGR (Attorney General of the Republic), together with the group of officials who were involved in the validation of this concession, due to his alleged relationship with the lawyers who represent the Aleática company. SAB de CV, who is close to the former legal adviser to the presidency.
The contract related to the investigation, valid until 2038, has generated an income of almost 7 billion pesos, a product of the toll collection on the Bicentennial Viaduct.
Scherer responded to the media that the corruption being investigated if it turns out to be true is the responsibility of the SCT (Secretariat of Communications and Transportation).
However, in March 2020, that agency concluded that the award was illegal, but in September of that same year, the official “appointed a lawyer close to him, Román García Álvarez, as legal director of the SCT, who fifteen days later Upon taking office, he drew up an agreement that not only declared the concession legal in favor of Aleática but also opened the door to the possibility of extending it even longer.”
The FGR then froze the investigation, the consequence of which would have been to annul the concession and once again give the State control of the road without the need to compensate the company.
Since his tenure as head of the Mexico City government, corruption has surrounded López Obrador’s inner circle, who is always quick to ignore links or any relationship. That was the case of René Bejarano, who was caught on video receiving bribes in suitcases from businessman Carlos Ahumada. During this six-year term, his brother Pío López Obrador was also caught on video receiving money in yellow envelopes from officials of the Chiapas government.
Source: Animal Politico
