Hearing of César Duarte, former governor of Chihuahua, extended for two months

The judge of Chihuahua, Humberto Chávez, extended two months the intermediate hearing of the process that follows the ex-governor of that state, Cesar Duartewithin criminal case 3041/2019, since he is accused of stealing 96.6 million pesos from the government to livestock companies owned by him between 2011 and 2014.

Duarte was presented to a hearing this Thursday, but his lawyer, Carlos Mendoza, asked the judge for an extension to analyze the information from the Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office. Therefore, the intermediate hearing will be held on Monday, April 3 at 9:30 in the morning.

Duarte’s lawyer argued that the extension was necessary based on article 337 of the State Penal Code. Meanwhile, the Public Ministry said that it had no objections to address the proposal.

The former PRI leader was extradited from the United States to Mexico at the beginning of June 2022, and since then he has been imprisoned in the Cereso 1 of Aquiles Serdán in Chihuahua.

The Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office accuses Duarte of participating in 11 financial transfers from the Chihuahua Government’s Rural Development Secretariat to the División del Norte Regional Livestock Union and to the División del Norte Financial Corporation, both of which Duarte is a partner controlling.

According to the investigation folder, these transfers were justified as “support for ranchers” for the purchase of fodder, heifer transfer expenses, equipment for artificial insemination, purchase of corn and beans, the acquisition of an office and a program to repopulate cattle. cattle.

The State Prosecutor’s Office has testimonies from 30 people against Duarte -among them Francisco Hernández Vega, former State Treasury Secretary; Jesús Manuel Luna Hernández, former private secretary.

Duarte was arrested on July 8, 2020 in Miami, Florida, where he was subject to the extradition process to our country, which took place in June of last year.

Duarte was also denounced by the Financial Intelligence Unit for the so-called “Operation Zafiro”, allegedly used by Duarte to finance PRI electoral campaigns. This investigation is carried out by the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Electoral Crimes of the Attorney General of the Republic, an entity that has not yet determined whether it will prosecute the investigation.

jorge.monroy@eleconomista.mx