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(CNN Spanish) -
A federal court in Argentina upheld the extradition to Mexico of businessman Carlos Ahumada, who is required for alleged fraud against the government of the Mexican capital, as explained in the resolution that CNN obtained this Thursday.
In the document, of 105 pages and dated December 21, the Federal Criminal and Correctional Court 9 explains that although the defense said that the case of the Mexican Prosecutor's Office against the defendant had prescribed, the "arguments of the defense are not sufficient to refute the assertion of the applicant and the fulfillment of the formal requirements of the present procedure ".
At the moment it is not clear how long it could take for Ahumada's extradition to be finalized, since according to Argentine law he still has the right to file an appeal with the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice and, if presented, the businessman could not be extradited to Mexico until it is resolved.
This Thursday, in a phone call with Mexican journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva, Ahumada said that the extradition has already been appealed to the Supreme Court, that his case will be heard in February 2022 and that this process could take at least a year.
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CNN is trying to confirm those details with the defendant's lawyers and with the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice.
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In the interview, Ahumada also said that the Mexican authorities "are not going to be able to extradite me for any reason and take me to Mexico ... for any more legal cases that they invent."
Ahumada added that it was the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the head of government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, who are seeking his extradition, and that he did not commit any crime.
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This Thursday, López Obrador avoided commenting on the case when he was consulted in his usual morning press conference.
For his part, Sheinbaum did not comment publicly on the defendant's statements.
On December 6, at a press conference, the Mexican president referred to Ahumada as the protagonist of a scandal that he remembers as one of the most difficult moments he experienced as an opponent: the videos that came to light in 2004 and in the that the businessman appeared handing wads of bills to René Bejarano, the then Finance Secretary of López Obrador, who was head of the Government of Mexico City.
"How could people think that I was not involved, if it was my private secretary? Incredible, it was a very hard blow, that was one. That hurt me more because it had to do with my honesty, which is what I consider most important in my life, that hurts more talking about conscience, "said López Obrador.
Although Bejarano later declared that he received the money to finance campaigns following orders from Rosario Robles, who led the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) between 2002 and 2003, he went to prison for the crime of money laundering and was later acquitted in 2005 by a court due to lack of evidence.
For his part, Robles denied Bejarano's accusations.
Carlos Ahumada, who has Mexican and Argentine nationality, was arrested in August 2019 in Buenos Aires based on a red card requested by Interpol in Mexico at the request of the Attorney General of the Mexican Republic (FGR).
This Thursday, the FGR indicated in a statement that the accused is responsible for "the possible commission of the crime of generic fraud of the common jurisdiction, in relation to public works contracts in various delegations of the city (of Mexico)."
No further details were given.
* Emilia Delfino, Iván Pérez Sarmenti and Fidel Gutiérrez collaborated in this report
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