MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Gilberto Miguel Valle Zulbarán, Alejandro Catalá Guerrero and Erick Gustavo Soto Ceballos, Basham, Ringe y Correa
7.5 Recent Landmark Investigations or Decisions SEGALMEX “Seguridad Alimentaria Mexicana” (known by its Spanish acronym SEGALMEX) is a state-owned enterprise operating under the Ministry of Agri - culture and Rural Development. Its purpose is to achieve food self-sufficiency in Mexico by increasing the production of staple grains and milk. The SEGALMEX case involves a significant mis - appropriation of funds amounting to MXN15.3 billion, in the company’s early years of operation, identified by the Ministry of Finance and Pub - lic Credit. The funds are alleged to have been diverted through fictitious purchases linked to shell companies. In 2022, the federal government dismissed three senior officials and denounced them before the Prosecutor’s Office. However, to date, none of them have been convicted, and details regard - ing the case have been classified for a period of Being one of the most emblematic cases of cor - ruption in Latin America, the group of Brazilian engineering and construction companies for - merly known as Odebrecht were the protago - nists in the delivery of bribes in exchange for the award of contracts and tenders for PEMEX. The former Director of PEMEX is also involved in this case. So far, there is no conviction in crimi - nal matters related to it. 7.6 Level of Sanctions Imposed Unfortunately, to date, no convictions or sub - stantial criminal sanctions have been imposed five years. Odebrecht
pays the related damages, they become subject to several conditions for suspending proceed - ings (eg, are ordered not to leave the country, and may be expected to appear before the authority several times) which must be fulfilled within a period of six months to three years. Once such conditions are met, the criminal proceedings are concluded with an acquittal. The arithmetic averages for the criminal offences detailed in this guide are shown in 3.1 Limitation Period . Abbreviated Procedure The NCCP provides the abbreviated procedure, where the imprisonment penalty of the defend - ant could be reduced between two-thirds and one-third of the minimum imprisonment time penalty. The abbreviated procedure can be requested by the Public Prosecutor before the criminal judge, but the damages caused must be repaired or indemnified, and there must not be opposition from the victim. Finally, the defendant must acknowledge having committed the criminal offence and renounces the oral hearing. With this procedure, the defendant will be con - demned without the need for an oral trial and without the need for other procedural stages to be completed, with the advantage of shortening the penalty of imprisonment. Aggravation The penalty for the crimes may be aggravated in the cases provided by law. For instance, Article 213-Bis of the FCC provides that the penalty of the crimes set forth in Articles 215, 219 and 222 of the FCC will be increased by up to half when the public official is a member of the police or customs or migratory bodies.
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