The Attorney General's Office (FGR) withdrew the hearings it had requested from a federal judge to present the criterion of opportunity that a Federal Public Ministry had granted to Samuel and Alexis Weinberg, as well as their partner Natan Wancier, in the criminal case against the former Secretary of Public Security, Genaro García Luna, his wife, and five other relatives for the crimes of organized crime, embezzlement, and money laundering for an amount of 5,112 million pesos. The Federal Center for Criminal Justice, located in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico, notified the 61 accused in this case that the FGR had submitted an official document to withdraw from the hearings scheduled for October 29 and 30 in criminal case 43/2023, in which the statements of García Luna's former partners were to be presented. These statements link former President Enrique Peña Nieto and former Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, to a supposed corruption scheme in the construction and operation of several federal penitentiaries. The judicial authority warned that the withdrawal of the aforementioned evidence is made «to the full detriment» of the Attorney General's Office itself, so the consequences of this decision are not the responsibility of the federal judges assigned to the Judicial Administration Body (OAJ). In the notification sent by the Justice Center to the parties involved, it is stated that the prosecutor's office withdrew from presenting the statements of Mauricio Samuel Weinberg López, Jonathan Alexis Weinberg Pinto, and Natan Wancier Taub as anticipatory evidence within the criminal process, so these testimonies will no longer be heard to validate their legality prior to the oral trial. Federal sources affirmed that the FGR's withdrawal would be related to the lack of an agreement between the prosecutor's office and the legal representatives of the Weinberg family and Natan Wancier to cover the reparation of the damage in Mexico, one of the requirements established by the National Code of Criminal Procedures to grant this procedural benefit to a person accused of a crime. The statements of Samuel Weinberg, his son Alexis Weinberg, and Natan Wancier were first revealed during a hearing held on Friday, May 23, 2025, to present the statements of García Luna's former partners as anticipatory evidence, to hear the statements before the trial. «In accordance with the request from the Federal Prosecutor's Office, since article 131, section V (of the National Code of Criminal Procedures), refers to the obligations of the Public Ministry in conducting the investigation, the request for the waiver of the anticipatory hearing of the aforementioned evidence is granted to its full detriment,» the judicial agreement states. Benefits without damage reparation In the opportunity criterion request presented to the FGR, the Weinbergs themselves and their partner state that, despite the diversion of funds committed to the detriment of public finances, they will not offer reparation of the damage in Mexico, because they had previously reached an agreement with Mexican authorities in a civil litigation case in the United States. «The benefits we obtained from the award of the aforementioned contracts are subject to damage reparation, as agreed in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, Miami-Dade, Florida, United States of America. Therefore, in requesting the Opportunity Criterion with the truthful, effective, and essential information that I have stated and that I can expand on when appropriate, I request that the damage caused be considered as repaired,» states the last manifestation in the ministerial statements of the Weinbergs and their partner in Nunvav INC and Nunvav Technologies. In the criminal case against Genaro García Luna, which sought to link former President Enrique Peña Nieto and former Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, to the corruption scheme in the construction and operation of federal penitentiaries, the former secretary of public security's wife, Linda Cristina Pereyra Gálvez, and her sisters Esperanza, Luz, and María, all surnamed García Luna, his brother Humberto García Luna, and his nephew Oswaldo Luna Valderrabano are also accused. Samuel and Alexis Weinberg, as well as their partner Natan Wancier Taub, delivered to the Attorney General's Office (FGR) proof of transfers and bank deposits that allegedly they made to two businessmen, identified as Jorge Fernández Moreno and Adolfo del Cueto Aramburu, for the payment of alleged bribes to former President Enrique Peña Nieto and his former Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong. In exchange, the three shareholders of the company Nunvav Technologies, benefited by the former federal security secretary, Genaro García Luna, would have managed to maintain their contracts in public security with the Mexican government, according to an investigation folder that led to the arrest of a sister and a nephew of García Luna himself. However, the three accused in the criminal case against 61 people, including former public officials, do not offer to repair the damage in the scheme that involves the diversion of more than 5 billion pesos, arguing that they already did so in the United States. Evidence linking former president EPNAristegui Noticias had access to judicial records that confirm the opportunity criterion that the FGR granted to the father and son of the Weinberg family and their partner in exchange for revealing the supposed corruption scheme that allegedly benefited García Luna during the six-year term of former President Felipe Calderón, as well as Peña Nieto and Osorio Chong, starting from 2011. In addition to the testimonial evidence, the Israeli businessmen delivered 18 annexes of financial information to document their statements, including deposit slips and transfer vouchers, as well as company constitutive acts and public property records that they also «gifted» to former public officials. The Weinbergs and their partner never met with Osorio and Peña nor did they give them money directly, but everything would have been done through Jorge Fernández Moreno and Adolfo del Cueto. According to journalist Raymundo Riva Palacio, the businessman Jorge Fernández Moreno's relationship with Enrique Peña Nieto was very close, as Fernández's wife was also very close to actress Angélica Rivera. The three businessmen explained that they sought the agreement with the Peña Nieto government in order to «avoid difficulties in obtaining additional contracts due to changes in the official positions that controlled the entities of the public security sector». «At the end of 2011 or early 2012, we met the Mexicans Jorge Fernández Moreno (date of birth… 1961) and Adolfo Del Cueto Bulltick (date of birth… 1974), who directed a brokerage house in Miami called Bulltick (annex 4, introductory letter)». According to the investigation folder, Genaro García Luna led a criminal organization while serving as Secretary of Public Security in the government of Felipe Calderón, in which officials from other security bodies such as the Decentralized Administrative Body for Prevention and Social Readaptation (OADPRS) participated. Taking advantage of his position, García Luna allegedly «formed an extensive network of business partners» to obtain illegal contracts from the Decentralized Administrative Body for Prevention and Social Readaptation (OADPRS)», thus obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars in «profits». Agreement in the United States At the same time as they were negotiating their «opportunity criterion» with the FGR in Mexico, the Weinbergs and their partner are seeking to reach an agreement with the Mexican government in the courts of the United States. Therefore, on May 27, the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of the Ministry of Finance of the Mexican government announced that it had voluntarily withdrawn the civil lawsuit against Samuel and Alexis Weinberg and their partner Natan Wancier to try to recover around 600 million dollars. However, the UIF warned that if the agreement is not reached, it will resume the civil lawsuit that is in the hands of Judge Lisa Walsh, the same one who condemned Genaro García Luna and his wife to pay 2,488 million dollars, that is, almost 50 billion pesos. You may be interested >UIF knew since 2024 of Vector transfers linked to García Luna: MCCI According to the UIF, Judge Walsh «authorized the continuation of the dialogue between the parties to maintain the search for an agreement beyond the mandatory mediation stage, even during the period previously defined for the trial stage, which included the period from April 28 to May 23 of the current year. Since an agreement was not reached by the deadline of last May 23, the UIF and the defense of the Weinbergs requested the voluntary withdrawal of the lawsuit so that in a new period of 30 days an agreement is reached, which includes collaboration with the FGR in Mexico. «The parties requested Judge Lisa Walsh the procedural measure of voluntary withdrawal of the lawsuit without prejudice, in accordance with which, once the viability of the agreement is resolved, it will be submitted to its jurisdiction for it to be complied with and the corresponding sentence to be issued; or, if the agreement is not reached and within a period of 30 days, the Mexican State may re-file the lawsuit before the same tribunal to follow the course of the trial until sentence,» concluded the UIF.
