State sued by citizens

Three individuals representing non-profit organizations filed lawsuits against several states, including Baja California, for the alleged mismanagement of public health funds.

Jacqueline Peschard, Federico Reyes and Luis Pérez de Acha sued in the name of the organizations Justicia Justa and Impunidad Cero the 11 state governments under investigation by the Mexican Attorney General’s office for the misuse of 36 billion pesos or $1.9 billion.

The lawsuits were filed for corruption allegations due to anomalies detected by the Mexican Auditor’s office in the use of funds for the Mexican version of Medicare, named Seguro Popular.

The lawsuits are complementary to lawsuits filed in Oct. 16 against seven other states.

The complainants said in a press release the Attorney General’s office must investigate the lawsuits and the anomalies detected, including contracting non-existent companies, lack of documents to support millions in payments, excessive prices paid for medicines and keeping workers’ taxes.

The audit detected anomalies for 155 million pesos in the state, or about $8.3 million.

A man who presumably took part in the kidnapping of a Mexicali resident was arrested in Jalisco, said the Attorney General’s office.

Authorities identified the suspect as Carlos “Doe,” 52, of Guadalajara, Jalisco, who was arrested in the town of Tonalá, Jalisco, Mexico.

The agency said the suspect was transported to Mexicali and has already been indicted by a state judge for aggravated kidnapping.

According to the report, the suspect was allegedly involved in the kidnapping of a Mexicali man on June 16 at Fraccionamiento Las Fuentes subdivision, just east of the El Nido baseball stadium.

The agency said the suspect used a Grand Marquis to transport the victim, who was released days after.

The agency requested help from the Jalisco Attorney General’s office for the arrest of the suspect.