Mexican president challenges UK asylum given to woman accused of corruption

The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has said her government will send a formal letter of complaint to officials in the United Kingdom after the wife of a former governor wanted for allegedly pilfering £4.8m of public money was granted asylum in Britain.Karime Macías, ex-wife of jailed former Veracruz governor Javier Duarte, is wanted for extradition to Mexico for allegedly siphoning millions from the state welfare office, but has reportedly spent the last few years in London.“How can a woman accused of fraud and corruption be granted asylum?” Sheinbaum asked. “Today we are sending a letter with this position.”Neither the British embassy nor Macias’ lawyer responded to a request for comment. The Home Office said it does not comment on individual cases. Macías’ asylum in the UK was first reported by Mexican news outlet N+.Macías was first lady of Veracruz from December 2010 to October 2016, when her husband resigned amid allegations of organised crime and embezzlement. He was alleged to have siphoned away billions of pounds from state coffers.At the time, Duarte and Macías’ alleged crimes came to embody the graft that has plagued Mexico for years, and was particularly rampant during the government of then-president Enrique Peña Nieto. Mexico remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world, with Transparency International recently ranking it as 141 out of 182 countries.After his resignation, Duarte fled the country, but was arrested six months later in Guatemala. He was jailed in Mexico on money laundering and criminal conspiracy charges. Mexican prosecutors recently requested to extend his sentence on charges that he embezzled £215,000 from a state fund that was supposed to support children and the elderly.While serving as first lady, Macías reportedly enjoyed the use of a 15-acre, $9.7m ranch called El Faunito, where the walls were decorated with paintings by Latin American masters such as Rufino Tamayo and Fernando Botero.She was also head of the state welfare office, where she is alleged to have awarded contracts worth millions of pounds to shell companies. Authorities later found a warehouse filled with goods belonging to the couple, including Macías’ notebooks.On Tuesday, Sheinbaum displayed a page from one of those notebooks where Macías had written “I deserve abundance” over and over again.Macías disappeared from view shortly after her husband’s capture. In 2018, a Mexican judge issued an arrest warrant for Macías, accusing her of embezzlement. Days later, Duarte’s successor, Miguel Ángel Yunes, presented the findings of a months-long surveillance effort, alleging she was living a life of luxury in London.According to Yunes’ investigation, Macías had a home in Belgravia, one of London’s wealthiest neighbourhoods, less than a mile from Buckingham Palace. Macías reportedly spent at least £60,000 a month, and attended a “face gym” to strengthen her facial muscles.The day the findings were released, Interpol reportedly issued a red notice for Macías’ arrest, although she does not currently appear on the agency’s wanted list.Macías was detained by British authorities in October 2019 but she was released after paying £150,000 to face the extradition charges on bail. She also agreed to wear an ankle monitor.In 2022, Westminster magistrates court ruled in favour of her extradition to Mexico but Macías’ legal team filed several appeals to halt the process, according to local news reports, alleging that the case against her had expired, a fact that the Mexican foreign ministry had not shared with British authorities.Macías had also filed an asylum petition with the British government, alleging that she was the victim of political persecution by the Mexican government. According to news reports, the disgraced first lady was granted asylum in the UK last year.As well as condemning the British government’s ruling, President Sheinbaum also questioned how Macías was able to live in one of the world’s most expensive cities.“This person, who has been living in the UK for quite some time now, who knows where they got the money? Because having children there, living in a special place, where did they get it from?”