Federal judge cancels arrest warrant against Cabeza de Vaca

A federal judge canceled the arrest warrant for money laundering and organized crime that a federal judge had issued against the former governor of Tamaulipas, Francisco Javier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca.

By granting an amparo and the protection of justice to the former PAN president, the Eighth District Judge of the State of Tamaulipas, Faustino Gutiérrez Pérez, canceled the arrest warrant issued by the Control Judge, Iván Aarón Zeferín Hernández, considering that there is no evidence to impute both crimes to García Cabeza de Vaca in criminal case 139/2021

On the contrary, the judgment of the judge in the case maintains that the alleged money laundering scheme that had been imputed to the former governor of Tamaulipas corresponded to a real estate purchase, sale and transfer operation between the former governor, the businessman Juan Francisco Tamez Arellano and the Tamaulipas government contractor, Baltazar Higinio Resendez Cantu.

However, the judge considered that this relationship, which included deposits from the company of Reséndez Cantú to that of Tamez Arellano, T Six Twelve SA de CVthat later transferred resources to the former governor of Tamaulipas does not imply that the three have formed a criminal organization to launder money.

Similarly, the ruling establishes that even though T Six Twelve has been declared a Company that Invoices Operations (EFO) or ‘ghost’ company by the tax authorities, this also does not prove that the resources used by Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca to buy a property are of illegal origin.

“It is important to mention that if a person does business or transfers with another, which is ultimately declared as an ‘EFOS’ or ‘ghost’ company, or if it is investigated in national territory or abroad, it cannot be asserted that the first has knowledge of the legal situation of the second, for not being bound to the second”, affirms the judicial resolution.

In addition, the sentence considers that the crime of organized crime is subsumed in the crime of money laundering, therefore it also warns that a person cannot be prosecuted twice for the same conduct

Due to the foregoing, Judge Faustino Gutiérrez pointed out that the test data provided by the FGR and its reasoning “are deemed insufficient” to issue an arrest warrant against the former governor of Tamaulipas, ordering the control judge to annul the arrest warrant for the crimes of money laundering and organized crime.

In addition, it orders the control judge to hold a new hearing within the corresponding criminal case in which it is established that no test data that prove that the crimes of operations with resources of illicit origin and organized crime were committed.

The former governor of Tamaulipas, Francisco Javier García de Cabeza de Vaca, celebrated the court ruling and added that the arrest warrant issued against him “has always been illegal and unconstitutional.”

Yesterday, once again, justice agrees with me. A Federal Judge resolved an amparo clarifying that there are no indications of an alleged money laundering, much less of organized crime. The arrest warrant issued against me has always been illegal and unconstitutional. pic.twitter.com/uTLsjRJEZO

— Fco. Cabeza de Vaca (@fgcabezadevaca) February 28, 2023

Through a statement, the former governor’s defense attorneys, Diego Ruíz Durán and Ricardo Cajal Díazindicated that the resolution of the Eighth District Judge of the State of Tamaulipas “is an important step that helps to demonstrate the full innocence of Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca.”