Mexican tycoon in graft case released after agreeing to repayment deal

MEXICO CITY: A Mexican businessman accused of corruption over the alleged sale of a disused fertilizer plant to Pemex was released from prison Monday after agreeing to repay the state oil company $216.6 million, judicial sources said.

Alonso Ancira, the former head of steel giant Altos Hornos de Mexico, is accused of selling the plant to Pemex for $200 million in 2012.

He left Mexico City jail without making any statements to the press.

Hours earlier, a judge had suspended the proceedings against him after he signed a reparation agreement, to be made in three payments by 2023, a source from the Federal Judiciary Council told reporters.

Ancira was arrested in May 2019 on the island of Mallorca and extradited to Mexico from Spain in February.

Another key figure in the case, former Pemex chief executive Emilio Lozoya, was also returned by Spain to Mexico.

Lozoya, who led Pemex from 2012 to 2016 and was previously a top advisor to ex-president Enrique Pena Nieto, is accused of authorizing the purchase of the rundown plant for a suspiciously high price.

The former oil executive, who is also accused of accepting millions of dollars of bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, has implicated several ex-presidents including Pena Nieto during his trial.

Lozoya, who has been given the status of cooperating witness, alleges that Odebrecht bribes were funneled to Pena Nieto's presidential campaign.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a left-wing populist who replaced Pena Nieto in 2018 vowing to tackle deep-rooted political graft, has called for a referendum on whether to prosecute his predecessors.