The sons of the late politician Oscar Javier Lara Arechiga, a former PRI deputy for Sinaloa, have denied this Wednesday any connection between them or their father with the Sinaloa Cartel. They also distance themselves from the crimes of money laundering for those who have an open case in Andorra, on which EL PAIS has reported. “I want to emphatically clarify that neither my father nor my mother have been part of any mafia, cartel or criminal group,” said Jose Maria Lara Esquer, one of the brothers, at a press conference.
The Andorran judge Stephanie Garcia has opened an investigation for money laundering of Lara’s heirs and his political environment, and justifies this decision as a way to prove the origin of the funds that he accumulated in the Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA), where the deputy came to hide six million dollars and move 17 million through a complex financial network in Panama and the Dutch Antilles, as revealed by this newspaper. With these wickers, the magistrate has decided to investigate the widow of the former president, Beatriz del Carmen Teresita Esquer de Lara, and her children, Beatriz del Carmen, Oscar Javier and Jose Maria Lara Esquer.
Lara’s children have wanted to defend themselves against these accusations and have held a press conference from Sinaloa. “The money that my family has had over the years has been the product of my father’s and my mother’s work,” said the brothers, who have also accused the Andorran authorities of alleged prejudice towards their clients from Sinaloa. . “Just because we are Mexican and from Sinaloa, they classify us as a supposed risk for being related to the cartel,” said Oscar Lara Esquer. They placed their money in that bank because of the benefits it gave, but they never imagined that their investment would be blocked when the investigation folder began.
According to the investigation, the funds hidden by Lara Arechiga in Andorra are connected to Grupo Viz, the business conglomerate led by the former municipal president of Culiacan (2008-2010), Secretary of Economic Development of Sinaloa (2005-2007) and deputy for this State of the PRI (2003-2004), Jesus Vizcarra Calderon. The judge points out that the latter, who is not charged in the case, “is related to the Sinaloa cartel.” The instructor also connects the late Oscar Javier Lara Arechiga with this drug trafficking organization. “Lara would have maintained ties with members of the Sinaloa cartel, known for being an organized group dedicated to drug trafficking, arms, money laundering and other illicit acts,” Garcia explains.
The magistrate points out that, after the ex-deputy’s criminal case was extinguished due to death, his relatives are “directly responsible civil servants.” And unless they renounce the hidden money in Andorra, “the hearing of the case must be held and a sentence passed, declaring or not the existence of the crime and agreeing or not on the confiscation [de los fondos]”. The children are discussing with their lawyers, filing a lawsuit against the Andorran authorities, against the bank, the judges involved, the newspaper EL PAIS. They have also assured that they will request support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to advise them in their defense.
With a degree in Economics, Lara Arechiga was deputy for Sinaloa of the PRI and Secretary of State Administration and Finance. He also held the positions of regional director of the Banco del Atlantico, regional counselor of the Banco Nacional de Credito Rural and the same position at Nacional Financiera. Likewise, he was deputy director general of Infrastructure of Sagarpa. This newspaper has unsuccessfully tried to contact the lawyer for Oscar’s heirs Javier Lara Arechiga and obtain the version of his brother Jose Luis, who is also being investigated for money laundering in Andorra.
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