In a landmark ruling, a civil court in Miami ordered former Mexican Secretary of Public Security Genaro García Luna and his wife, Linda Cristina Pereyra, to pay over $2.4 billion. The fine is in relation to damages for their involvement in a vast corruption and money laundering scheme that siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from the Mexican government.
Judge Lisa Walsh of the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida issued the judgment after García Luna and Pereyra failed to respond to the civil lawsuit filed by Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit (Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera, UIF). The UIF accused the couple of orchestrating an elaborate network of shell companies and fraudulent contracts to embezzle public funds and launder them through real estate and other assets in Florida.
According to journalist Peniley Ramírez, who has closely followed the case, the court ordered García Luna to pay $748 million and Pereyra $1.74 billion. The judgment reflects the estimated amount of public funds the couple illicitly obtained and laundered through their scheme.
The UIF's lawsuit detailed how García Luna, during his tenure as Mexico's top security official from 2006 to 2012 under former Mexican President Felipe Calderón, leveraged his position to secure over $250 million in government contracts through bribery and bid-rigging. These contracts were awarded to companies controlled by García Luna and his associates, with the proceeds funneled into various assets, including luxury properties in Florida. The Calderón administration was known for its declaration of war against the country's drug cartels, with García Luna as its main architect.
In a related criminal case, García Luna was convicted in February 2023 by a U.S. federal jury in Brooklyn on charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, international cocaine distribution conspiracy, and making false statements.
He was sentenced in October 2024 to 38 years in federal prison and fined $2 million for accepting millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel, facilitating the transportation of over a million kilograms of cocaine into the United States. His defense during the trial argued that the entirety of the prosecution's case relied on the testimony of untrustworthy convicted criminals already serving time in the U.S..
García Luna remains the highest-ranking Mexican official to ever be convicted in the United States. Judge Brian M. Cogan, who presided over the trial, told García Luna that "Aside from your pleasant demeanor and your articulateness, you have the same thuggishness as El Chapo."
Sobre el caso García Luna, señalo: 1) Nunca tuve evidencia verificable que lo involucrara con actividades ilícitas, ni tampoco recibí información en ese sentido de agencias de inteligencia, mexicanas o extranjeras, que entonces confiaban en él e interactuaban con él; 2) No he…
— Felipe Calderón 🇲🇽🇺🇦 (@FelipeCalderon) October 16, 2024
Current Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has yet to comment on the matter directly. However, Sheinbaum has previously gone on record to condemn both García Luna and Calderón, while Calderón has asserted García Luna's innocence.
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