05/05/14 (written by cmolzahn) — Former Aguascalientes Governor Luis Armando Reynoso Femat, of the National Action Party (Partido de Acción Nacional, PAN), was arrested on May 2 for allegedly embezzling $26 million pesos (about $2 million USD). Reynoso Femat served as Aguascalientes governor from December 2004 through November 2010. He had previously served as mayor of the city of Aguascalientes. Reynoso Femat was apprehended as he left the left an Aguascalientes bullfighting ring in the company of his wife, Margarita Zapata Vallejo. The former governor is alleged to have sold properties belonging to the state’s housing authority (Instituto de Vivienda del Estado de Aguascalientes, IVEA) at prices that fell short of their actual value. He was later transferred to the state penitentiary (Centro de Readaptación Social, Cereso) in Calvillo, Aguascalientes.
Reynoso Femat’s attorney, Julio César Serna Delgado Ventura, called his client’s arrest arbitrary, maintaining that the former governor was shown no arrest warrant, and was told he was required only as a witness. “The Public Prosecutor acquired [the arrest warrant] after my client had been detained. When they showed it to him, it was still warm,” he said. Serna Ventura is currently seeking to bring a constitutional injunction (amparo) before a federal judge for the former governor’s release.
Reynoso Femat had already been brought before a court to face two investigations against him by Aguascalientes authorities—one resulting from the alleged purchase of a medical CT scanner in 2008 at a cost of $13.8 million pesos ($1.06 million USD), that never arrived at its designated hospital; as well as separate accusations of defrauding the IVEA of $17 million pesos ($1.3 million USD). He has paid $19 million pesos in bonds in order to face the legal proceedings against him outside of prison; however he has not yet posted bond for the most recent allegations brought against him, which remains a possibility given that the crimes are not federal in nature.
Interviewed by reporters from inside his prison cell, Reynoso Femat called his arrest a “political reprisal,” though at the behest of his attorney he did not clarify. He has thus far refused to give an official statement, but continued to question how the Aguascalientes Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado, PGJE) was able to open an investigation into 500 pages of documents on the morning of May 1, and within three hours manage to obtain an arrest warrant. Reynoso Femat’s attorneys have meanwhile requested an extension of the 144 hours allowed by the constitution for presenting evidence on their client’s behalf.
Sources:
Álvarez, Xóchitl. “Presentarán a Reyhoso Femat en rejilla de juzgado.” El Universal. May 3, 2014.
“Reynoso Femat acusa revancha política en su detención.” Proceso. May 4, 2014.
