EPN and Videgaray did not incur in conflict of interest: Andrade

The Minister of Public Administration Virgilio Andrade exonerated President Enrique Peña Nieto and the Minister of Finance Luis Videgaray of the charges of conflict of interest due to the purchase of houses constructed by government contractor Higa. At a press conference, Andrade explained in regard of the purchase of houses in Ixtapan de la Sal and Malinalco, in the case of Peña and Videgaray, that "neither the president nor his wife acquired any property after his swearing," which occurred in 2012. On the purchase of the house in Malinalco by Luis Videgaray, Andrade said that the Minister of Finance carried out the transaction with his own resources and "did not acquired the property while being a public servant." Andrade pointed out that four companies linked to Group Higa have 22 contracts with the federal administration, which represents 0.17 % of the total contracts. As part of the investigation on the alleged conflict of interest, Andrade's ministry investigated 111 public servants. In the same way, he pointed out that the money of first lady Angélica Rivera "comes from her work as an actress" and that allowed her to aquire the so-called "White House" of the posh neighborhood of Las Lomas. Also, Rivera returned the ownership of the property in December of 2014, according to Andrade.