Ex-Aide to Mayor of Mexico City Faces New Charge

The federal attorney general’s office said Tuesday that it had found sufficient evidence to charge a former top aide to Mexico City’s popular mayor with laundering thousands of dollars.

The charge was filed last week against Rene Bejarano, Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s former party whip in the city assembly, the attorney general’s office said.

Lopez Obrador, who is seen as a leading presidential contender next year but has not announced his candidacy, has accused President Vicente Fox’s administration of concocting charges against him and his allies. Under Mexican law, anyone charged with a crime is barred from seeking public office.

Fox and his Cabinet members have denied the accusations.

The city’s attorney general last year charged Bejarano with electoral crimes and encouraging illicit conduct after a videotape showed him accepting wads of cash from businessman Carlos Ahumada. A judge dismissed a third charge of money laundering.

Based on the results of the federal attorney general’s investigation, however, a judge last month issued a new arrest warrant for Bejarano on the money-laundering charge, the statement said Tuesday. The warrant was presented to him Friday in jail, officials said.