Mexican President Sheinbaum Says Mexico is Negotiating The Return of Billions Stolen Through Corruption

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that her administration is working to reach an agreement with a former public official accused of transferring hundreds of millions of dollars in allegedly illicit funds from Mexico to investment accounts and other assets in Florida.

During her morning press conference, Sheinbaum said Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit, led by Pablo Gómez, is negotiating with Genaro García Luna, the country's former secretary of public safety. She said the goal is for García Luna to return the money that he and his wife allegedly diverted from the Mexican government during former President Felipe Calderón's administration, which ran from 2006 to 2012.

"There is an ongoing process to reach an agreement regarding the information and the return of the resources," Sheinbaum said. "On Friday, I received a note from Pablo Gómez stating that they are in this process, and I ask Pablo to inform us about how it's going."

Sheinbaum added that if no deal is agreed, legal proceedings will continue in the United States and stricter laws could apply in a separate trial awaiting García Luna in Mexico.

Last month, attorneys representing the Mexican government asked a civil court judge in Florida to issue a default judgment — a ruling issued when a defendant fails to respond — against García Luna and his wife, Cristina Pereyra. The lawsuit accuses the couple of transferring and investing illicit funds in Florida and seeks the forfeiture of assets allegedly acquired through corruption.

The motion, reported in May by Milenio, claimed García Luna secured more than $250 million in government contracts through bribery, bid-rigging and other corrupt practices.

According to court filings, Pereyra and other associates used the funds to invest in various properties, assets and services in Florida. Prosecutors say García Luna and at least six co-conspirators ultimately received more than $580 million through fraudulent contracts.

However, Infobae México reported that the total amount owed by García Luna and Pereyra is even higher than initially reported. Circuit Judge Lisa Walsh, of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, issued a According to the report, the funds will be returned to the Mexican government, which is the plaintiff in the case.

The Miami lawsuit is separate from the criminal case García Luna faced in New York on drug trafficking charges. In 2023, he was sentenced to more than 38 years in prison after a jury in Brooklyn found him guilty of conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel, participating in a criminal enterprise and making false statements to U.S. authorities.

During his term as Mexico's top security official, García Luna was tasked with fighting criminal organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel, but prosecutors say that he instead worked alongside them. Court records indicate that García Luna provided intelligence about investigations against the cartel, information about rival groups and the safe passage of drug shipments in exchange of millions of dollars.