Overview
- Control judge Gustavo Aquiles Villaseñor ruled at the Reclusorio Norte that Duarte will face proceedings for peculado and set a six‑month complementary investigation, with an intermediate hearing scheduled for August 17.
- Prosecutors allege Duarte authorized a decree that let Veracruz reroute federally earmarked funds from the Treasury for programs benefiting children, older adults and people with disabilities to payroll and other state expenses.
- The case centers on 10 million pesos sent in 2012 to two social facilities in Veracruz, of which 5 million were allegedly diverted rather than applied as intended, according to the FGR’s filing.
- The FGR presented 38 evidentiary items, including testimony from former state treasurer Antonio Tarek Abdalá about mixing accounts—described internally as “barriendo las cuentas”—and the judge said officials acted on Duarte’s instructions through 2013.
- The decision blocks Duarte’s planned April 15 release from a prior nine‑year sentence as he remains in justified pretrial detention, while prosecutors move to charge three former Sefiplan officials and the defense prepares appeals and a possible amparo.