Lawsuit filed against governor

A state lawmaker and a local party chair filed a lawsuit against Baja California Governor Francisco Vega Thursday under allegations of misuse of public funds and grand theft. The lawsuit was filed at the Mexican Attorney General’s office by Assemblyman Luis Moreno, a member of the new state Tranformemos Parry, formerly known as Social Encounter Party.

Party spokesman Zeferino Sánchez said the lawsuit is based on the investigations made by the Federation’s Supreme Auditors office, or ASF in Spanish. That agency has investigated use of federally funded programs in 2016. “The ASF came, reviewed (documents) and gave the state the opportunity to clarify the issues,” Sánchez said. “The ASF determined (the anomalies) were not clarified with the documentation provided and turned the case to the Assembly.”

The spokesman said lawmakers have not investigated the case.

The ASF concluded that state officials allegedly misused funding totaling 1.6 billion pesos or $82 million from 12 programs, some of those educational.

The state of Baja California denied the lawmaker’s claims by saying Moreno is acting irresponsibly by causing confusion among citizens.

The state said 98 percent of the anomalies reported by the ASF have been clarified.

“The government of Baja California has always been responsible and has addressed the ASF observations while informing the public opinion about this topic,” the state added. “It is regrettable Assemblyman Moreno has used his position of legislator for propaganda purposes while causing a false perception in residents.”