Mexico’s president criticises UK for granting asylum to a former official accused of embezzling millions from a state welfare agency.
MEXICO CITY: President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed anger that Britain granted political asylum to a former civil servant accused of embezzlement.
Karime Macias is alleged to have pocketed about USD 5-6 million while working for a state family welfare agency.
“This woman is accused of fraud and corruption, so how is it possible that they give her asylum?” Sheinbaum asked during her regular morning press conference.
Macias was the wife of Veracruz’s former governor Javier Duarte, a member of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Duarte has been imprisoned since 2018 on corruption charges.
Macias has been detained in London multiple times but has so far successfully fought extradition.
She has previously denied any wrongdoing.
In 2020, she told the Mexican press she was not responsible for any crime and claimed she and her children were victims of a campaign of hatred.
The UK embassy in Mexico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
