07/16/11 — The auditor of the state of Guerrero (Contraloría General de Guerrero), Julio César Hernández Martínez, announced this week major financial discrepancies in four publicly funded state offices. Over 10.4 billion Mexican pesos (approximately 890 million USD) were determined unaccounted for or mismanaged, most from the budgets of the State Education and State Health departments. Speaking in response to two separate complaints regarding wrongdoings with public funds filed with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, Hernández Martínez stated the irregularities were discovered through a general audit covering 11 years, from 2000 to March of 2011.
Hernández Martínez directly named high-level officials in his report, including former Guerrero governors René Juárez Cisneros and Carlos Zeferino Torreblanca Galdindo. According to El Universal, most of the financial observations were focused on the Torreblanca Galdindo administration, which began in 2005 and ended in March of this year. Overall, the various issues include income tax due on wages and unpaid salaries, deductions for goods and services, and, in one case, the expense of a helicopter for governmental officials. The helicopter rent alone is reported to have cost the public 45 million Mexican pesos (approximately 3.8 million USD).
In response, the Guerrero Department of Education (Secretaría de Educación de Guerrero) announced an immediate audit of 50 randomly selected educational institutions. The extensive review will last five to six weeks, and will look at all financial and administrative areas in schools from different regions within the state. Of the 50 random audits, 15 will occur in schools in Acapulco, 15 in Iguala, 10 in Chilpancingo, and the remaining 10 in Tixtla and Mochitlan.
Sources:
Covarrubias, Adriana. “Aplicarán auditorias en 50 escuelas de Guerrero.” El Universal. July 10, 2011.
Covarrubias, Adriana. “Contraloría ve irregularidades por 10 mil mdp en Guerrero.” El Universal. July 6, 2011.
“Hallan presuntas anomilías financieras en dependencias de Guerrero.” Groupo Fórmula. July 6, 2011.
Ramos, Mar Horacio. “Contraloría halla irregularidades por más de 10 mil 465 mdp en Guerrero.” La Crónica de Hoy. July 7, 2011.
Trujillo, Javier. “Revela auditoria de Guerrero desvío de fondos de ex gobernador.” Milenio. July 6, 2011.
