As beautiful as the country of Mexico is, it is plagued with corruption on all levels of government. A global anti-corruption non-profit group known as International Transperancy, has crowned our south of the border neighbor as the most corrupt country in Latin America, which it shares with Argentina. "The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 demonstrates that all countries still face the threat of corruption at all levels of government, from the issuing of local permits to the enforcement of laws and regulations,” said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International. In this index Mexico ranked 106 out the 177 countries sampled and on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (clean), the Aztec country scored a 34. Now Forbes has assembled a list of the Top 10 Most Corrupt Mexicans Of 2013 that had a hand in this rank.
The corrupt pack is led by the infamous Elba Esther Gordillo, the former leader of the teacher's union that was charged with embezziling $200 million from union funds to support her high class lifestyle. Known for her shopping sprees at Neiman Marcus and facial plastic surgery, "La Maestra" (The Teacher), is now in jail. Following Gordillo on the list is Carlos Romero Deschamps, PEMEX workers union leader, who was involved in illegal practices and using his governmental influences to obtain personal gain. His reported salary is about $2,000 a month, but his daughter Paulina Romero, shares her lavish travels on Facebook around the world and in private jets. Rául Salinas de Gortari, brother of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who was exonerated this year from "unlawful enrichment." The Mexican judge also ordered $19 million dollars and over 40 properties to be returned to him, all this under PRI's Enrique Peña Nieto's watch.
Humberto Moreira, the former PRI governor of Coahuila increased the debt of his state from $200 million to $35 billion, which ultimately led to his resignation. The same party's governor of Veracruz, Fidel Herrera, had him in the middle of allegations he was connected to the Zeta cartel as it thrived during his tenure. Peña Nieto's uncle, Arturo Montiel, is also part of the Forbes list when he was accused by his former wife of kidnapping their three children and manipulating the law to his favor and preventing her from seeing them. Also in the list are Genaro Garcia Luna, the Secretary of Public Security, is linked to top kingpins like "El Chapo". Alejandra Soto, former spokesperson of Felipe Calderón and the governors of Tabasco, Andres Granier and of Tamaulipas Tomás Yarrington round up the list of the top corrupt Mexicans of 2013.
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