Winners in Mexico election could face $10m fine if funding complaint by defeated PRI is upheld

Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s party could face a US$10 million (Dh36.9m) fine for breaching campaign finance rules, the National Electoral Institute said on Wednesday after the group’s election victory.

Mr Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor who has vowed to root out corruption and make government contracts transparent, on Sunday won by a landslide while his leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena) took an outright majority in Congress.

The possible fine, scheduled to be put to a vote by the National Electoral Institute (INE) on July 18, would be the largest related to campaign financing for the election season.

It is nearly as much as the 207.5 million pesos (Dh39.5m) authorised for Morena’s public financing for campaign spending in 2018 federal elections.

According to INE, Morena formed a trust – not declared – in which it deposited, mostly through cash deposits, about $4m as well as cheques and bank transfers.

“The party actively participated in forming this financial instrument to collect resources as a financing method contrary to the rules,” INE said on Wednesday.

It said the estimate of a possible fine was based on omissions in Morena’s fiscal report as well as exceeding cash contribution limits and receiving funds from unknown persons and prohibited entities.

Two sources said the trust under investigation was called “For the Others”, and set up by Morena to help victims of last September’s earthquakes.

INE said about $3m was withdrawn from the trust and distributed to party members in the form of cheques that were cashed later.

The INE began its investigation after the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) filed a complaint claiming Morena had launched the fund without reporting it to authorities.

Sunday’s poll was a drubbing for the PRI, pushed into third place, its worst showing yet.

The National Electoral Institute will vote on the complaint on July 18 – a process instigated by the defeated party