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Two more irregularities detected in Playa del Carmen city coffers

Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — Two more irregularities adding up to more than 2.3 million peso are being filed against the former mayor. On Tuesday, current Playa del Carmen mayor, Lili Campos, said the complaints are being filed due to “observations made by the Superior State Audit Office,” after being accused of a witch hunt.

“It is not a matter, as they say, of witch hunting, but because of the observations made by the Superior State Audit Office who are earmarking the amounts of irregularities that were incurred in the previous administration, that in some way, could not be verified,” she said.

The Solidaridad City Council will file two more complaints against the past administration during the course of this week, she said saying that “surely more will be presented.”

The mayor did not give details about the upcoming lawsuits, but only indicated that the other processes “are progressing”.

“If we do not denounce, but instead ignore the observations, then the responsibility could fall on us, on this government and we definitely cannot allow what belongs to the municipal heritage to also remain in those conditions in which the audit police have observed,” she added.

The latest financial discrepancies are from an audit of the 2019 public accounts. They involve 928,000 pesos for the hiring of four narcotics dogs, their training, a veterinarian, food, aesthetics and training equipment.

“This expense was requested by the Planning Department but the supporting documentation for these expenses is incomplete. There is no document issued by the service provider that proves that the training was carried out. There are also irregularities in the contract process, that is to say, there is no file regarding the contract or the process.”

The second discrepancy is for 2,325,000 peso for events for well-being and urban improvement with expenses for food that were requested by the Directorate of General Services without the existence of the corresponding documentation.

The previous 12 complaints filed by the current administration against the previous are already in the hands of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

“I know that they are already following up on it. They are integrating the files where appropriate, to proceed against those possibly responsible for acts of corruption in the previous municipal administration,” said Campos.