Cuba seeks Mexican businessman in corruption probe

Posted on Monday, 11.18.13

Cuba seeks Mexican businessman in corruption probe
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HAVANA -- Cuban authorities have summoned a Mexican businessman in
connection with a corruption probe, echoing previous cases in which
foreigners were ultimately charged in absentia and had their local
businesses seized.

A note published in the government's Official Gazette says Alfredo Jaime
Capetillo has until Wednesday to present himself to the Interior
Ministry official in charge of the investigation.

The Gazette says the 57-year-old Mexican national is accused of bribery,
but does not give further details. It adds that if he fails to appear,
authorities will take additional, unspecified steps. In the past, that
has meant issuing arrest warrants and holding trials without the
defendants present.

Capetillo's whereabouts were not immediately clear, and phone calls to
the Panama offices of his company, International ABC Import-Export, were
not answered Monday.

President Raul Castro's government has sought to crack down on endemic
graft in recent years, leading to dozens of criminal convictions of
Cuban executives, government officials and foreign businesspeople.

Authorities have used the Gazette before to announce corruption
investigations targeting foreigners, as in the case of Chilean brothers
Max and Marcel Marambio.

The Marambios were later sentenced in absentia to long prison terms and
had their local business operations taken over by the state.

Source: "HAVANA: Cuba seeks Mexican businessman in corruption probe -
Business Wires - MiamiHerald.com" -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/18/3762764/cuba-seeks-mexican-businessman.html#storylink=misearch