Cesar Coll Carabias, Guadalajara’s first opposition mayor who took office in 1995 after a campaign espousing honesty in government, spent last weekend behind bars.
Jalisco state police officers swooped on Coll at his Zapopan home Friday following a long investigation into allegations of misappropriation of funds dating back to 2013 during his term as president of the State Water Commission (CEA).
Coll, a member of the National Action Party (PAN), is charged with hiring three private firms to carry out work for the CEA. The companies never fulfilled the contracts but were paid over three million pesos by the commission. The work was eventually completed by CEA employees, according to court documents.
After spending five nights in jail, Coll posted bail of four million pesos, enough to cover the disputed CEA funds. “I can categorically state that I haven’t misappropriated a single peso in all the time I have served in a public capacity,” he stressed on his release.
Gustavo Macias, PAN’s president in Jalisco, jumped to the defense of his colleague, alleging the process was “riddled with violations” and demanded the resignation of state Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer, a leading figure in the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Macias dismissed Almaguer’s claim that Coll’s arrest had no political motive and questioned why leading members of the PRI who are under investigation for various alleged misdemeanors have not faced the same kind of justice.
“From the day I took office I walked away from any political or social activity,” said Almaguer, a former president of his party in Guadalajara. “I promised not to use the (Attorney General’s Office) for political reasons and I have fulfilled this.”
Almaguer said Coll was given every chance to present proof of his innocence during the investigation but failed to do so.
The charges were filed on the recommendation of the State Comptroller’s Office following audits of the CEA’s accounts for 2013-2014.
Macias said as an alleged “administrative” offense, the case should have been referred to the state’s recently launched Alternative Justice System and not treated as a felony.