Mexico's Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People

An auction from Mexico's Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People held in August 2020.

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s current administration created an institute to sell and auction seized goods tied to tax fraud, organized crime and corruption. But the head of this office resigned after detecting internal corruption and clashing with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 

Jaime Cárdenas only lasted about 100 days in charge of the Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People. 

In his resignation letter, Cárdenas says personnel from the institute have stolen jewelry and manipulated auctions. He also says that millions of dollars that came from last week’s so-called “presidential plane raffle” have not been reconciled.

In an interview to Reforma newspaper, Cárdenas says the president’s office expected from him blind obedience but dismissed the data he collected and his methodology.

Mexico’s president said Cárdenas’s resignation was due to political differences and accused him of being afraid of fighting corruption.