Oro Negro
was founded in 2012 by Gonzalo Gil White , son of the former Finance minister Francisco Gil Díaz , and José Antonio Cañedo White , son of Guillermo Cañedo , one of the founders of Televisa.
The company obtained lucrative contracts with Pemex for over USD $1.5 billion in a period of barely three years under the concept of leasing of five oil platforms and was capitalized with pension funds of Banamex and Grupo Sura.
However, with the fall of oil’s international prices from 2014 to 2016, Pemex had a decrease of its income from crude sales, for which it could not pay suppliers, Oro Negro among them.
This situation caused this company to have a debt with bondholders for USD $23 million .
Oro Negro had to request the Federal Institute of Specialists in Bankrupt Proceedings to designate a trustee for the disposal of their assets, so as to do the pending payments to its providers with whom it could not reach an agreement in the conciliation period nor in the extension they were granted.
Last June, the drilling company confessed that it was in bankruptcy and declared the suspension of its subsidiaries .
Oro Negro legally demanded Pemex a compensation of up to USD $1 billion for damages, in addition to accusing it of unequal treatment when it looked to renegotiate lower payments during the fall of oil prices.
In this context, Gonzal Gil White is searched by Interpol in 195 countries for misappropriation of Oro Negro’s funds of over USD $750 million . He is accused of breach of trust and fraudulent administration .
A few days ago, amidst the legal conflict, the drilling company presented, as part of its lawsuit, a series of audios , resulting from espionage, in which they accuse high officers of Pemex of asking for bribes of up to USD $5 million .
The audios were condensed in a document, accessed by Univisión . They mention that Pemex attacked them and violated contracts because they refused to pay bribes .
The material points out deputy director of Pemex Exploración y Producción, José Carlos Pacheco , who, according to the news outlet, asserted that other directors asked for millionaire bribes disguised as “success premiums,” and that were collected through friends or relatives.
On Wednesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that his government is responding to a lawsuit from drilling company Oro Negro alleging corruption at state oil company Pemex.
“We are responding to that lawsuit,” López Obrador said in his regular morning news conference, without giving additional details.
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