Chihuahua— Both the General Law on Administrative Responsibilities and the Penal Code contemplate irregular enrichment, of which former governor Javier Corral is accused by the Civil Service, as a “serious offense” in the first norm and as part of the catalog of “crimes against public service.”
Furthermore, the other cause for which the former president was notified, tax evasion, is classified in the section on tax crimes of the Criminal Code, the sanctions for which are also provided for in the State Tax Code.
According to information that emerged from the Secretariat of Public Administration last Friday, an administrative responsibility procedure was initiated against the former governor for serious offenses (the law contemplates these as well as non-serious offenses).
The General Law indicates that after submitting a Report of Presumed Administrative Responsibility (IPRA), the SFP must notify the accused and initiate the sanction procedure. In addition, since these are serious offenses, it must forward the file and submit it to the State Administrative Justice Court (TEJA).
It is the TEJA that is in charge of enforcing the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities, in which Article 60 states that “a public servant who fails to be truthful in the presentation of statements of assets or interests, with the purpose of concealing, respectively, the increase in his/her assets or the use and enjoyment of goods or services that is not explainable or justifiable, will incur hidden enrichment (…)”. This infraction is contemplated in the norm as a serious offense.
In another section, Article 78 establishes that administrative sanctions for serious offences may be “Suspension of employment, position or commission; Dismissal from employment, position or commission; Economic sanction and Temporary disqualification from holding jobs, positions or commissions in the public service and from participating in acquisitions, leases, services or public works”, of which one or more may be applied, according to the seriousness of the proven conduct.
“In the event that disqualification is determined, this will be from one to ten years if the amount of the affectation of the serious administrative violation does not exceed two hundred times the daily value of the Measurement and Update Unit, and from ten to twenty years if said amount exceeds said limit,” states the corresponding article in its final part.
But unjust enrichment is also considered illegal in Title 17 of the State Penal Code, which refers to crimes committed against public service.
“A public servant commits the crime of illicit enrichment if, during the performance of his or her duties or in the two years following the end of said duties or his or her resignation, unjustifiably increases his or her assets, either personally or through an intermediary, by increasing their assets, which, due to their value, are significantly greater than his or her financial means,” details Article 272.
“Anyone who commits the crime of illicit enrichment will be sentenced to three to fifteen years in prison, a fine of one hundred to five hundred times the daily value of the Unit of Measurement and Update, and, where appropriate, dismissal from the position he or she is holding, and will be disqualified for up to eight years from holding another position,” states Article 273 of the same law.
The other conduct pointed out by the Civil Service, according to the information that has come to light, is tax evasion, due to the omission of the payment of municipal taxes in the awarding of the so-called hot land of Corral Jurado, with which he expanded his house in Ciudad Juárez.
This infringement is considered both in the State Tax Code and in the Penal Code, but the sanctions it provides are aimed at paying the unpaid contributions to the corresponding tax entity.
“Regardless of the administrative measures referred to (…) in the Fiscal Code of the State of Chihuahua, a prison sentence of six months to three years will be imposed on the person who deliberately and with the purpose of defrauding the treasury, falsifies his declarations or carries out maneuvers tending to conceal his true income, without prejudice to the requirement of payment of the debt and the corresponding fiscal sanctions,” states Article 369 of the State Penal Code.
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