MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexico's attorney general has requested a prison sentence of up to 39 years for the former chief executive of state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) for his role in a corruption scandal, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
Emilio Lozoya is accused of having requested money from scandal-plagued Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht to partially finance the presidential campaign of former President, Enrique Pena Nieto in exchange for contracts.
On Monday, the attorney general formally charged Lozoya, who led Pemex between 2012 and 2016, with money laundering, criminal association and bribery. Together, the penalties could result in up to 39 years in prison, said the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. Local media had reported the development earlier.
Mexico's attorney general accused Lozoya of receiving more than USD9 mln in bribes from Odebrecht for which it was awarded contracts during the Pena Nieto government without having to compete in tenders. The penalty is solely for the to Odebrecht-related probe, the sources said, and Lozoya is under investigation for other wrongdoing.
Lozoya, who was extradited from Spain to Mexico in mid-2020, has pleaded not guilty. A lawyer for Lozoya could not immediately be reached for further comment. While initially allowed to await his trial without being jailed, he was put behind bars late last year after photos of him surfaced on social media that showed him dining with friends in a luxury restaurant in one of the capital's most exclusive neighborhoods that sparked outrage among many Mexicans.
As MRC wrote previously, in September 2021, Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem said its Mexican subsidiary Braskem Idesa ha reached a new gas supply agreement with Pemex to settle differences between the companies and build a USD400 million ethane terminal.
As MRC informed before, Pemex Petroquimica, a subsidiary of the Mexican state oil company Pemex, has resumed production of high-density polyethylene (LDPE) on line 2 in Cangrejera, Mexico after an unscheduled renovation. Earlier it was noted that Pemex postponed the restart of the second line with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year for the production of LDPE until August 10. It was originally planned that the launch of this production will begin at the end of July. The line was closed on 10 July.
Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is a Mexican state-owned oil and gas and petrochemical company. Since the nationalization of the Mexican oil industry in 1938, Pemex has remained a state-owned company and, by law, has exclusive rights to explore and produce oil in the country. Almost 60% of the company's revenues go to the state budget. Petrochemical products include, but are not limited to, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride.
MRC