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| Mexican teachers' union boss arrested for alleged embezzlement of £100m | Mexican teachers' union boss arrested for alleged embezzlement of £100m |
| (30 days later) | |
| The head of Mexico's powerful teachers' union was arrested at an airport near Mexico City on Tuesday for alleged embezzlement, with federal officials accusing her of using union funds to pay for plastic surgery, buy a house in San Diego and pay her bill at fashion stores. | The head of Mexico's powerful teachers' union was arrested at an airport near Mexico City on Tuesday for alleged embezzlement, with federal officials accusing her of using union funds to pay for plastic surgery, buy a house in San Diego and pay her bill at fashion stores. |
| The attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, said Elba Esther Gordillo, who has led the 1.5 million-member National Union of Education Workers for 23 years, was detained in Toluca on charges that she embezzled 2bn pesos (£106m) from union funds. | The attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, said Elba Esther Gordillo, who has led the 1.5 million-member National Union of Education Workers for 23 years, was detained in Toluca on charges that she embezzled 2bn pesos (£106m) from union funds. |
| Gordillo, long seen as a kingmaker and power behind the scenes in Mexican politics, was flown to the attorney general's hangar at the airport, where she asked to be checked by a doctor, Murillo told Milenio television. | Gordillo, long seen as a kingmaker and power behind the scenes in Mexican politics, was flown to the attorney general's hangar at the airport, where she asked to be checked by a doctor, Murillo told Milenio television. |
| Murillo said that Gordillo, 68, was in good health and awaiting transfer to appear before a judge. Two other people were also arrested but they were not named. | Murillo said that Gordillo, 68, was in good health and awaiting transfer to appear before a judge. Two other people were also arrested but they were not named. |
| The investigation started in December after Santander bank alerted authorities to bank transfers in billions of pesos, according to the attorney general. "We are looking at a case in which the funds of education workers have been illegally misused, for the benefit of several people, among them Elba Esther Gordillo," Murillo said at a news conference. | The investigation started in December after Santander bank alerted authorities to bank transfers in billions of pesos, according to the attorney general. "We are looking at a case in which the funds of education workers have been illegally misused, for the benefit of several people, among them Elba Esther Gordillo," Murillo said at a news conference. |
| Calls by Associated Press to the union's office seeking comment were not answered and Gordillo did not make a public statement. | Calls by Associated Press to the union's office seeking comment were not answered and Gordillo did not make a public statement. |
| Gordillo started out as a schoolteacher and became one of Mexico's most powerful political operators, displaying her opulence openly with designer clothes and bags, bodyguards, expensive cars and properties including a penthouse apartment in Mexico City's exclusive Polanco neighbourhood. She has been widely lampooned for her many plastic surgeries and depicted in political cartoons as ghoulish. | Gordillo started out as a schoolteacher and became one of Mexico's most powerful political operators, displaying her opulence openly with designer clothes and bags, bodyguards, expensive cars and properties including a penthouse apartment in Mexico City's exclusive Polanco neighbourhood. She has been widely lampooned for her many plastic surgeries and depicted in political cartoons as ghoulish. |
| Mexico's teachers are poorly paid and public education has long been considered sub-standard. | Mexico's teachers are poorly paid and public education has long been considered sub-standard. |
| Prosecutors said they had detected about £2m in purchases at fashion store Neiman Marcus using union funds, as well as plastic surgery bills in the US and the purchase of a million-dollar home in San Diego. | Prosecutors said they had detected about £2m in purchases at fashion store Neiman Marcus using union funds, as well as plastic surgery bills in the US and the purchase of a million-dollar home in San Diego. |
| "Between 2008 and 2012, there was systematic embezzlement of union accounts," Murillo Karam said. | "Between 2008 and 2012, there was systematic embezzlement of union accounts," Murillo Karam said. |
| Some funds eventually ended up in bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Castillo said that in one case money went to a Swiss account for a company owned by Gordillo's mother. Those funds were then used to buy a million-dollar house in the island of Coronado in San Diego. | Some funds eventually ended up in bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Castillo said that in one case money went to a Swiss account for a company owned by Gordillo's mother. Those funds were then used to buy a million-dollar house in the island of Coronado in San Diego. |
| Her detention came a day after Mexico's president, Enrique Peña Nieto, signed Mexico's most sweeping education reform in seven decades into law, seeking to change a system dominated by Gordillo in which teaching positions could be sold or inherited. | Her detention came a day after Mexico's president, Enrique Peña Nieto, signed Mexico's most sweeping education reform in seven decades into law, seeking to change a system dominated by Gordillo in which teaching positions could be sold or inherited. |
| Gordillo had organised a string of protests by teachers against the reform, which moves much of the control of the education system to the federal government from the teachers' union. She was elected to another six-year term as union leader in October. | Gordillo had organised a string of protests by teachers against the reform, which moves much of the control of the education system to the federal government from the teachers' union. She was elected to another six-year term as union leader in October. |
| So great is the union's control that no one knows exactly how many schools, teachers or students exist in Mexico. For years, Gordillo has beaten back attacks from union dissidents, political foes and journalists who have seen her as a symbol of Mexico's corrupt, old-style politics. Rivals have accused her of corruption, misuse of union funds and even a murder but prosecutors who investigated never brought a charge against her. | So great is the union's control that no one knows exactly how many schools, teachers or students exist in Mexico. For years, Gordillo has beaten back attacks from union dissidents, political foes and journalists who have seen her as a symbol of Mexico's corrupt, old-style politics. Rivals have accused her of corruption, misuse of union funds and even a murder but prosecutors who investigated never brought a charge against her. |
| She was expelled from Peña Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary party in 2006 for supporting other parties' candidates and the formation of her own New Alliance party. | She was expelled from Peña Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary party in 2006 for supporting other parties' candidates and the formation of her own New Alliance party. |
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