Mexican ex-governor expected to face charges for money laundering

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican federal authorities took a former governor of the northern border state of Chihuahua into custody in preparation for charging him with laundering money diverted from state coffers while in office, the Attorney General’s Office said Monday.

Ex-Chihuahua Gov. César Duarte — identified in a statement only as “César N” in keeping with rules over the protecting the identity of the accused — was extradited by the United States three years ago to face state charges of embezzlement and was under house arrest.

Juan Carlos Mendoza Luján, a lawyer representing Duarte, told the newspaper El Heraldo de Chihuahua that Duarte had been detained and that his lawyers were still gathering information, but that his detention appeared unlawful.

Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said a statement Monday posted on X that a suspect was taken into custody for alleged involvement in laundering illicit funds. A federal agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed it was Duarte.

Duarte was Chihuahua’s governor from 2010 to 2016. The 62-year-old, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, travelled to the United States in 2016 with his family to seek medical treatment for an injury he suffered in a helicopter crash.

Mexican prosecutors previously accused Duarte of embezzling nearly $5 million in state funds while governor. U.S. authorities detained Duarte and he was returned to Mexico in 2022.

In June 2024, a Mexican judge granted him house arrest in the embezzlement case, which continues.

In October 2024, Mexico requested U.S. authorization to prosecute Duarte for money laundering, which differed from the charge he was extradited to face. That approval came last week, according to the statement from the Attorney General’s Office.