Chihuahua— Javier Corral was formally charged by the Public Service Secretariat (SFP) with serious offenses of illicit enrichment and tax evasion, both related to the purchase of land to expand his house in Ciudad Juárez during his term as governor.
Yesterday, according to sources from the SFP itself, the former president was summoned to administrative responsibility proceedings and the file would be sent to the State Administrative Justice Court (TEJA).
The beginning of the administrative cases against Corral Jurado, according to the information that emerged from the SFP, derived from two complaints filed before the state comptroller’s office itself and before the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) on different dates in 2022.
The first complaint was filed in February 2022 before the SFP by local PRI deputy Omar Bazán Flores, regarding the request for investigation and information on the purchase of a piece of land.
A criminal complaint was then filed in May 2022 with the FGE by the mayor of Ciudad Juárez, Cruz Pérez Cuéllar, for alleged tax fraud and false statements for the purpose of defrauding, also related to the acquisition of the land.
The conduct alleged against Corral Jurado is based on his asset declarations that he submitted as governor of the state, one of which was modified during his administration and another corresponding to the end of his term.
The administrative offence of not declaring a property of which he is the owner is considered serious. Therefore, once the SFP investigation was concluded, the file was transferred to the competent area for the initiation of the administrative responsibility procedure.
The governor was summoned to the proceedings yesterday, Friday. Once the hearing is over and since it is a serious offence, the case will be sent to the State Administrative Court (TEJA) for its resolution.
Bazán’s complaint about the ‘hot spot’
On May 30, 2022, PRI deputy Omar Bazán reported to the FGE the former head of the Secretariat of Public Function (SFP), Mónica Vargas Ruiz, for “misplacing” a complaint against former governor Javier Corral filed during the previous state administration.
Her original complaint, filed in September 2019, demanded that the SFP investigate Corral for the “hot land” that he was awarded in Ciudad Juárez, next to his house in the Partido Romero neighborhood, on Costa Rica Street.
Bazán Flores said that the Civil Service confirmed receipt and even asked him to expand the complaint, but then said he did not know that he had any such appeal in his file.
For this reason, he filed a complaint for the probable commission of crimes of damage, illegal exercise of public service, collusion, delay in the administration of justice and concealment by favoritism, against former Secretary Vargas Ruiz.
In addition, he indicated, on May 12, 2022, through letter No. 070/2022, addressed to María de los Ángeles Álvarez, current Secretary of the Civil Service, Bazán requested information in relation to the events reported on September 24, 2019 to Vargas Ruiz.
There he asked to investigate Corral Jurado in relation to a 277.64 square meter property adjacent to one of his properties in Ciudad Juárez, located at 179 Costa Rica Street, between 16 de Septiembre and Ignacio de la Peña.
Subsequently, María Antonia Arreola Valenzuela, then Director of Investigation Processes of the Secretariat, through letter SFP-DPI-411-2019, requested that the complaint be expanded, indicating that the file “Exp. EPRA-79/2019” had already been opened. In response, on October 23 of that same year, Bazán submitted her complaint extension.
This indicates that the aforementioned property had three liens that together exceeded 30 million pesos, equivalent to more than 58 times the cost of the property that was improperly awarded.
Likewise, the embargoes were noted in the deed of the Public Property Registry and the Notary that exists on the lot at 179 Costa Rica Street, where Corral extended his residence along the abutment, after it had been an abandoned property for decades.
“Based on the above and seeking to clarify the facts regarding the official, it is in the interest of both a public servant and the general public that the corresponding investigation be carried out to determine the veracity of the facts and to absolve the governor of responsibility, or, if applicable, proceed in the manner established by law,” the PRI legislator indicated at the time.
At that time, he also stated that, upon making several follow-up calls with SFP personnel, he was told that the file had been sent to the Prosecutor’s Office because the agency lacked the authority to conduct the investigation, through an alleged internal agreement of which there is no record.
Thus, since February 2022, amid the loss of the original complaint at the SFP, the claim against Corral Jurado for the so-called “hot field” was again analyzed.
Another complaint from Mayor Pérez Cuéllar
The Municipality of Juárez, represented by Mayor Pérez Cuéllar, also filed a criminal complaint against former Governor Javier Corral Jurado for tax fraud and falsification of declarations after acquiring a piece of land from a “completely illegal” auction, as announced by the municipal president himself on May 9, 2022.
The tax evasion is due to Corral Jurado not paying the Municipality the transfer tax on the property he acquired, the mayor stated at the time.
When purchasing the land in 2018, Corral was required to pay the transfer of ownership tax to the Municipality of Juárez, which he did not do.
In September 2019, when El Diario published the purchase made by the former governor of a property adjacent to his own, Corral declared twice in different media that he had entered into a private contract of “promise” to sell the property, located on Ignacio de la Peña Street almost on the corner of Costa Rica Street, when in reality he acquired it and took possession of it.
Corral formalized the sale in November 2018 at Public Notary 3, owned by Javier Ignacio Camargo Nassar, the mayor added.
When purchasing the land in 2018, Corral was required to pay the transfer of ownership tax to the Municipality of Juárez, which he did not do.
Pérez Cuéllar explained that the property has a surface area of 277 square meters and the former president acquired it for 10 thousand pesos from Ricardo Álvarez Chabre, a purchase that was allegedly illegal.
The complaint that the mayor filed with the State Attorney General’s Office indicates that the land was acquired in an illegal auction by Álvarez Chabre, since in 1992 the Inverlat Bank sued and seized Sergio Pérez Muñiz for the amount of 26,666 pesos, following the trial and ordering the property to be auctioned in 1995.
“In 2018, once Javier Corral was sworn in and while he was serving as governor of Chihuahua, the property was put up for auction again, being awarded to Ricardo Álvarez Chabre, without even updating appraisals, since those from 1995 were used,” the complaint says.
According to information that emerged yesterday, the complaints filed by Pérez Cuéllar and Bazán Flores are the ones that support the procedure initiated by the State Civil Service.
It takes its toll on you
September 2019
Accusations have emerged that Corral bought a plot of land with which he expanded his house on Costa Rica Street in Ciudad Juárez. El Diario revealed the details of the award of the property, based on information from the Public Property Registry.
PRI deputy Omar Bazán files a formal complaint with the Secretariat of Public Function to investigate the purchase of the land and the evolution of Corral Jurado’s assets
February 2022
The PRI deputy files a second complaint for investigation at the SFP
May 2022
The SFP, in the new administration after Corral’s, responds to Bazán that there is no record of her 2019 complaint, that is, the previous administration made it disappear
The mayor of Juarez, Cruz Pérez Cuéllar, denounces Javier Corral for tax fraud and false declarations to avoid paying the corresponding municipal taxes for the purchase of the land
#Hot #terrain #reaches #Corral
