Frauds at Infonavit, reported from AMLO’s management: former owner

Jessica Xanthomila

La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, December 22, 2024, p. 6

During the government of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the fraud and corruption that prevailed in previous administrations in Infonavit were detected, for which the corresponding criminal complaints were filed in the case of the company Telra Realty and for the mass trials through from which homes were stripped. Also, officials and notaries involved in successive sales of the same property were dismissed, said Carlos Martínez Velázquez, head of the institute between 2018 and 2024.

In an interview, he pointed out that although his management limited the power level that labor and business representations have had for years, the reform of the institute’s law – approved in the Senate and pending in the Chamber of Deputies – is necessary to nip in the bud that disproportion that does not exist in any other institution.

After the fraud, corruption and housing dispossession schemes at Infonavit became known, in the morning conference of President Claudia Sheinbaum on December 18, Martínez stated that the case of Telra Realty, a company that was granted a illegal compensation of 5 billion, was attended to from the beginning of his administration.

A lot of resistance was generated because the counselors (of the Institute’s Administrative Council) did not want us to report, they said that there was nothing to pursue.he emphasized.

He indicated that the criminal investigation remains open, 2 billion pesos were recovered in 2021 and The general secretary and the legal coordinator were imprisoned during the time of David Penchyna (2015-2018). Then they followed the criterion of opportunityto collaborate in the case.

Regarding the mass trials to strip the beneficiaries of their homes, between 2014 and 2017, Martínez recalled that complaints were filed with the Attorney General’s Office and in Nayarit, which led to the arrest of the president of the Court of Justice. Justice of that state, Pedro Antonio Enríquez Soto, with other judges, notaries, appraisers.

He asserted that the scheme with which these trials worked was endorsed by labor and business representation. We had to deal with resistance (to investigate), precisely because they themselves approved things that were not right and then, when the Superior Audit of the Federation came, they took refuge against it..

Pressure from the union sector

Martínez highlighted that these two cases were public during his administration, and that in the six years he was at the head of Infonavit he faced strong pressures of the union and business sector, accustomed to having complete control of the institute.

He assured that there are representatives who have been in charge at Infonavit for years. Among the unions, the CTM has always had everything co-opted. Prior to the six-year term of President López Obrador, for 17 years the union representative was Abelardo Carrillo, former governor of Campechehe pointed out.

Regarding the complaint from the unions and business representatives that the reform puts tripartism at risk, Martínez maintained that The governance system of the current institute is not optimal. He exemplified that in his case, it was not his turn to preside over the Administrative Council, because the figure of the director is a guest, he can meet without his presence.