El Universal rejects statements by a witness in the case against García Luna, according to which he paid millions in exchange for favorable coverage

(Credit: CLAUDIO CRUZ/AFP via Getty Images)

(CNN Spanish) --

The newspaper El Universal rejected on Monday the statements of a witness in the trial against Genaro García Luna in New York, according to which the former Secretary of Public Security of Mexico would have obtained favorable journalistic coverage in exchange for million-dollar monthly payments .

Héctor Villarreal Hernandez, Undersecretary of Program and Budget for the state of Coahuila between 2005 and 2010, said in a court hearing on Monday that García Luna paid Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, owner of the country's largest-circulation newspaper, 25 million pesos monthly (more than US$ 1,300,000 at the current exchange rate) to clean up his image and publish positive notes about his management.

• Trial against García Luna: under pressure from the defense, former Mexican federal police officer changes his version  

An executive from El Universal told CNN that the information is false and that on Tuesday, in the print edition, they will offer more details about their position.

According to information published this Monday, the newspaper was warned of this possible testimony, since it reported in a brief article that García Luna's defense would have withdrawn a motion seeking to prohibit the statement of a witness collaborating with the prosecution who should refer to alleged payments to El Universal and other Mexican media.

"In this regard, this publishing house considers that the testimonies are only serious and credible when they are accompanied by supporting evidence," said the newspaper, adding that "for now, what there are documentary testimonies is that El Gran Diario de México always maintained a balanced and critical coverage of the management of García Luna”.

The newspaper added that proof of this coverage is that in 2011 it won the National Journalism Award in the news category, "for a piece of work that denounced the millionaire spending made by the Ministry of Public Security, then under the command of García Luna, to produce a television series in order to promote the image of the Federal Police”.

At the court hearing for the Eastern District of New York, Villarreal said that he had traveled to Mexico City twice with a García Luna employee to make those payments.

In addition, he added that on one occasion he paid 10 million pesos (US$521,000 at current exchange rates) to the newspaper with public funds from the state of Coahuila and billed that payment as an expense for a tourism campaign.

advertising

That invoice, always according to the version of Villarreal Hernández, is in the possession of the US prosecutor's office because the same witness recorded it when he turned himself in to the authorities of that country, where he pleaded guilty to money laundering.

The witness stated that he received commissions on the billing of public works and that with the money obtained —which, according to his calculations, amounted to US$200 million— he bought properties, land, planes, and the media, among other assets.

Villarreal said that he met García Luna twice.

The first time was in 2008, when he attended a meeting to request funds for public security projects in Coahuila.

The second time in 2009, when the then Secretary of Public Security of Mexico invited him to a tour of a building called "El Búnker", which, according to him, has the most advanced technology and intelligence systems.

The defense's turn

At the time of questioning, the defense focused on Villarreal's criminal record as a way to discredit his testimony.

Villarreal said he turned himself in to US agents at the border in February 2014 when he realized he had been accused of financial crimes in the country.

However, he acknowledged that in Mexico he had also been charged with falsifying financial documents to obtain loans and was facing 15 years in prison there.

He was released on bail after a day in jail and promised the judge that he would return to face the charges.

He never did.

Garcia Luna's lawyer, Shannon McManus, asked Villarreal if Garcia Luna was angry about the "false stories" that had been spread about his alleged ties to drug cartels, to which the witness replied: "Well, angry. no, but if irritated”.

The trial against García Luna will continue this Tuesday with a new witness.

Garcia Luna faces multiple counts of participation in an ongoing criminal enterprise and charges of conspiring to obtain, import and distribute thousands of kilograms of cocaine in the United States, as well as allegedly making false statements to US immigration officials.

The former official has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Fidel Gutiérrez, Alfredo Meza, and Mariana Coccaro contributed to this report.

Genaro Garcia Luna