As Televisa continues to deny any connection between the television broadcaster and a money laundering ring in Nicaragua, a prosecutor in the Central American country said that some of the suspects, arrested while impersonating reporters, supposedly called the broadcaster shortly before they were apprehended.
On Wednesday, Sept. 26, Special Prosecutor Armando Juárez told Noticias MVS in an interview that they had records of phone calls the 18 detained Mexicans made but declined to comment on whether the Nicaraguan authorities intended to verify who owned the phones used.
Noticias MVS also reported that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Mexican authorities told him one of the journalists who supposedly traveled with the suspects was a real reporter but had been swapped out by one of the alleged money launderers.
Facts emerging from the case bring up new questions about the possible connection between the biggest television broadcaster in Mexico and the suspects arrested in August for allegedly transporting over $9 million. The money was found in six decommissioned trucks still bearing the Televisa logo near the broder between Nicaragua and Honduras.
Earlier, an investigation from the magazine Proceso revealed that the six vehicles were registered to Televisa with the authorities in Mexico City using documents from the broadcaster.
While Televisa denied owning the trucks, Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard verified that the vehicles were registered under Televisa's name, reported the newspaper La Jornada. The Mexico City government has opened an investigation into whether officials at the Secretary of Transport and Roads were involved in some kind of irregularity regarding the vehicles' registration process, according to Aristegui Noticias.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
