Retired Mexican general arrested in B.C. claims he's the 'fall guy' in gas theft corruption case
CBC
The lawyer for a man accused of masterminding organized thefts of fuel from Mexico's state-owned oil and gas monopoly while he was in charge of its security has told a Vancouver courtroom that the charges against him are completely baseless.
Retired Gen. Eduardo Leon Trauwitz appeared in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday for a bail hearing as he awaits extradition proceedings on organized crime and gas theft charges in Mexico. The charges stem from his seven years as head of security for Petroleos Mexicanos, commonly known as Pemex.
According to Ryan Dawodharry, legal counsel for the attorney general of Canada, Trauwitz faces up to 60 years in a Mexican prison for a scheme that allegedly saw him forcing his subordinates to facilitate and cover up illegal taps of Pemex's pipelines by violent criminal organizations.
Trauwitz was arrested in B.C. on Friday and is asking to be released on bail. His lawyer, Tom Arbogast, argued Wednesday that there is no good reason to keep Trauwitz behind bars.
The retired general has been in Canada for 30 months, has applied for refugee status and has a work permit in Canada, Arbogast said. He has been living with his daughter, who is a graduate student at the University of B.C.
"There is no evidence that he will be a flight risk other than a presumption that someone who is facing criminal charges in Mexico ... is going to flee," Arbogast argued Wednesday.
He claimed that Trauwitz is the victim of a politically motivated prosecution.
"Mr. Trauwitz's position is that he is being set up as the fall guy due to corrupt practices in Mexico," Arbogast said.
"Mr. Trauwitz is essentially the person who was trying to fix the situation in Mexico, and it was an Alice in Wonderland situation where up is down and black is white."
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Veronica Jackson has reserved her decision on Trauwitz's bail.
The federal government is arguing that Trauwitz does not have strong ties to Canada because he does not own property here, has no family in the country apart from his daughter and despite his work permit, doesn't have a job.
Dawodharry told the court that Trauwitz has a history of failing to appear in court in Mexico on these charges, and instead flew to Canada one day before a scheduled court date in May 2019.
"We know Mr. Trauwitz fled Mexico before he was required to face charges because the proceedings in his view would be unfair," Dawodharry said.
"If he is subject to a removal order or departure order, there is a risk that he would again abscond."
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