Karime Macías, the wife of the former governor of Mexico’s Veracruz province, was arrested in London on Tuesday 29 October. Six hours after her arrest, Ms Macías was released on bail pending an extradition hearing, on the condition she remain in London.
Mexico is seeking her extradition in relation to charges of the misuse of public funds. Ms Macías is alleged to have improperly appropriated funds from the State’s social welfare programme. Her husband, Javier Duarte, is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence having pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling public funds.
Prosecutors allege that Ms Macías is responsible for depriving the welfare programme of 112 million pesos, the equivalent of £4.6m, and an arrest warrant was issued by a district court judge in Veracruz in May 2018.
Ms Macías’ lawyer Marco Antonio del Toro emphasised that his client had handed herself into the police voluntarily following the issue of a summons and that she has requested political asylum in the UK “following right abuses committed since [Ms Macías’ husband] was arrested.”
Categories: Mexico, United Kingdom
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