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You can read previous Rantburg articles on the Moreira debt scandal here, here, here,
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By Chris Covert
Javier Villareal, a Coahuila state official enmeshed in a growing controversy over public debt contract was ordered by a Coahuila state court to preventative detention Tuesday, according to Mexican news accounts.
The order is the second sudden turn in a scandal that could bring down one of the most politically powerful men in Mexico, Humberto Moreria Valdes, who is formerly the governor of Coahula during a time of massive and unprecedented public debt growth during his terms.
Moreira is currently leader of Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI) the largest and most powerful political entity in Mexico.
Preventative detention is a device used by Mexican state and federal prosecutors when they want a defendant available as they investigate criminal acts. Preventative detention, colloquially known as "rooting" is actually an arraignment order for a set time, except the defendant is not allowed bail or a hearing.
Preventative detention is typically used against high profile drug traffickers and corrupt government officials.
Preventative detention is not usually used unless a prosecutor is certain crimes alleged have been in fact committed.
Villareal must appear before the court by Wednesday to abide by the order.
Villareal was detained by Coahuila state prosecutors suddenly last Friday, and he spent about 15 hours in a Saltillo, Coahuila prison before being released. Although no official details have been disclosed surrounding his early Saturday morning release, Villareal's attorney, Eduardo Amerena, told El Diario de Coahuila daily newspaper Friday that Villareal posted bail in the amount of MP $10.00 (USD $0.77).
Villareal is under investigation for his role in a debt transaction with two banks, Santander and Baijo, last March in which he allegedly used a false decree of the Coahuila state legislature authorizing bonds issued by the two banks in the amounts totalling MP $3 billion.
Villareal became chief of the Coahuila state Sistema de Administración Tributaria de Coahuila (SATEC) state tax collection system in 2007, the year Moreira became president and about two years into the run up in Coahuila public debt.
Troubles for Villareal and others involved in the scandal became deeper as a Tuesday article in Reforma daily newspaper revealed that Villareal and his faily had purchase several lots of real estate in Brownsville, Texas since 2008.
In a summary of the Reforma article, the Mexican political news website, Animal Politico, reported a complaint last June by unidentified Coahuila state Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) officials charging Villareal with unjust enrichment, was filed with the Procuradora General de la Republlica (PGR) or the Mexican national attorney general's office. It is not detailed in the Tuesday post how officials in the PGR handled the complaint at the time.
The property in question included 10 lots of both commercial and residential property. One example cited in the Animal Politico news website post included a property at 780 South Central Avenue in Brownsville, said to be worth USD $190,740.00. That property was said to be owned by Paola Villareal, sister of Javier.
That property is listed online as a 2,500 square foot, 3 bed room residence.