Priistas denounce corruption at Infonavit; link Octavio Romero to network of inexperienced companies

Senators from the PRI denounced that a scheme similar to the one uncovered at the National Electoral Institute (INE) under Guadalupe Taddei is being applied at Infonavit, with rigged contracts handed directly to businessmen close to the head of that agency, Octavio Romero Oropeza, and they demanded his appearance before the Senate. At a press conference, they revealed the existence of an alleged network of companies with no construction experience that have benefited from hundreds of billions of pesos, which they called "signs of corruption." Claudia Anaya Mota detailed that, from the 1.2 trillion pesos fund in workers' housing subaccounts, more than 150 billion pesos have already been disbursed, of which more than 60 billion have already been paid out and 92 billion are available for upcoming payments, through the company Infonavit Constructora, which subcontracts private firms. The Zacatecas lawmaker questioned that preference is given to companies with no government registration and no construction experience, which previously were suppliers to Pemex during Romero Oropeza's tenure as head of the oil company and now appear as housing builders. She mentioned the companies Construcciones Interservicios de Tabasco and Industriales del Sur, which take in billions of pesos in direct awards for construction. In addition, they denounced that Infonavit reports a 30 percent delinquent portfolio, which could not correspond to the new homes delivered this year, so they demanded that the financial reports differentiate how many homes correspond to the previous model — where the worker chose the house — and how many to the new model of homes averaging 100 square meters with a value of 700,000 pesos. For her part, Senator Meli Romero denounced that Infonavit awarded, without bidding, a contract worth 580,534,548 pesos for "operational leasing of multifunctional printing, scanning and copying equipment." "580 million pesos that would serve for 946 homes that Mexico's workers actually need," she warned. She revealed another contract worth 92.8 million pesos awarded directly to the production company Contra el Viento Films for "audiovisual production, surveys and perception polls." "Infonavit paying 93 million pesos practically for surveys — so clearly these are signs of corruption," the senator said. She denounced that at Infonavit there is a concentration of power because, despite the existence of Procurement Committees and a Board of Directors, most of those making decisions are linked to Morena or to Infonavit director Octavio Romero. She warned that workers' money is at risk in three ways: badly invested, badly administered and badly executed, and she pointed out that developments built in risk zones could suffer serious structural damage from earthquakes or floods and become uninhabitable. The lawmakers demanded transparency in the handling of the 1.2 trillion pesos that belong to Mexico's workers, and guarantees that the homes are adequate, dignified, with services, transportation and proper land tenure, so as not to create legal problems for families. You may be interested in: Collegiate Court grants suspension to Grupo Herdez; prevents withdrawal of case against defendant accused of procedural fraud Discrimination and harassment against a trans professor at UNAM denounced; campaign launched Sheinbaum celebrates adjustments for health, schools and environment in the 2027 Federal Expenditure Budget; guarantees elections with budget for the INE Join our channel! EL UNIVERSAL is now on WhatsApp! From your mobile device, find out the day's most relevant news, opinion pieces, entertainment, trends and more. aov/rmlgv