The leader of the PAN in Puebla, Mario Gerardo Riestra Piña, and his family were accused of alleged unexplained enrichment according to documents and testimonies that were accessed and in which a series of alleged embezzlements and money laundering by both the brothers and the mother of the PAN member were detected.
Gabriel Biestro, president of the Government Commission of the city council in the capital of Puebla, reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) the wealth of the Riestra family, among which he highlights at least 3 properties in areas of the Caribbean, with millionaire costs, since they would be close to 12 million 100 thousand pesos, the same ones that have never been proven where they came from.
“It is not the first time that the Riestras are involved in corruption scandals. (…) Today I tell Mario Riestra from here to clarify his situation, the one that today the Financial Intelligence Unit is following, instead of wanting to cover holes and potholes that the municipal government of his party left in our city,” said Gabriel Biestro in a video released.
The history of complaints against the family of the state leader of the PAN has been going on for several years. Last year the Puebla councilman, Leobardo Soto, accused Mario Roseta of having undeclared properties in tourist destinations. Meanwhile, in 2017, residents of Jolalpan took over the municipal presidency and accused Susana Riestra of forcing them to sign apocryphal acts of the City Council, in exchange for helping them with their labor demands, when she was president of the Government Commission of the local Congress.
Likewise, local Morena leaders accused Rodrigo Riestra of having “donated” public lands and properties to non-existent companies and of other embezzlements when he was the state’s Secretary of Rural Development.
Since last year, Morena spokespersons in Puebla, Leobardo Rodríguez and Gabriel Biestro, made accusations against the Riestra family for having million-dollar properties and doing business through a network of companies taking advantage of their political and government positions.
Andrés Villegas, current deputy for district 15 and president of the Morena State Council in Puebla, documents that Mario’s brother, Rodrigo Riestra, when he held the position of Secretary of Rural Development, was accused by farmers and residents of stealing their lands to donate them to ghost companies that are not registered with the authorities.
The complaint highlights that companies linked to Augusta Díaz de Rivera, as well as Mario and Susana Riestra Piña, make up an alleged money laundering network through ghost and front companies that, through influence peddling and third parties, have obtained million-dollar contracts for the provision of services, supplies and construction in the public sphere.
For example, he mentions that MTR Force, whose legal representative is Gabriel Paredes Tamayo, is a company dedicated to wholesale commercial intermediation of mass media, and retail trade of household goods, computers and items for interior decoration.
He points out that the common denominator of Grupo Internacional Inmediato, DANKE Consultoría, INDO Constructora, MEDESA Medicamentos de Especialidad, Construcciones Modernas y Contemporáneas, and CAMPTA México & Learning is that they receive a large part of their capital, which they centralize to later redistribute. All these companies are linked to PAN politicians and related to Gabriel Paredes and his family.
According to information provided by Gabriel Paredes Tamayo, his wife Araceli Morales Mino and his son Jaime Gabriel Paredes Morales, either as legal representatives or shareholders of one of the six companies whose tax domiciles are located in the same property located in the La Paz neighborhood, in the city of Puebla, have invoiced and made financial transactions for the benefit of the Riestra Piña family and Augusta Díaz de Rivera with millionaire amounts.
According to the complaint by the state leaders of Morena, only in the period from 2022 to 2024, MTR Force received more than 460 million pesos from these five companies:
- MEDESA Medicamentos de Especialidad S. A. de C. V. transferred more than 32.1 million pesos to MTR Force. Ricardo Fuentes Tedy, Susana Riestra Piña’s husband, acts as legal representative and sole administrator, and his tax domicile is located in a building in the La Paz neighborhood.
- INDO Constructora transferred more than 7.3 million pesos to MTR Force. Ricardo Fuentes Tedy together with Jaime Gabriel Paredes Morales act as legal representatives, and his tax domicile is located in the same building as MEDESA in the La Paz neighborhood.
- Construcciones Modernas y Contemporáneas S. A. de C. V. transferred more than 211.5 million pesos to MTR Force. Araceli Morales Mino acts as legal representative. It receives funds from the companies INDO Constructora and MEDESA; In addition, its tax domicile is located in the same building as the other business groups in the La Paz neighborhood.
- Grupo Internacional Inmediato S. A. de C. V. transferred more than 143.7 million pesos to MTR Force. Gabriel Paredes Tamayo acts as legal representative, and its tax domicile coincides with the other companies, in the same building in the La Paz neighborhood. Company hired by the State Executive Committee of PAN Puebla (CDE PAN Puebla) during the period of Augusta Díaz de Rivera.
- DANKE Consultoría S. A. de C. V. transferred more than 65.4 million pesos to MTR Force. Gabriel Paredes Tamayo also acts as legal representative, and its tax domicile coincides with the same building in the La Paz neighborhood. It is also a company that was hired by the State Executive Committee of PAN Puebla (CDE PAN Puebla) during the period of Augusta Díaz de Rivera.
Mario Gerardo Riestra Piña, current leader of the PAN in Puebla, and his brothers have been involved in Puebla politics since they were very young with exorbitant salaries, especially when the first one became the PAN leader during the Morenovallista administration, helping the proposals sent by the then governor Rafael Moreno Valle to be approved without any further issue.
Sorce: proceso
