Former Quintana Roo Governor Roberto Borge Released to House Arrest

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Former Quintana Roo Governor Roberto Borge has been released from a federal prison in Ayala, Morelos, and placed under house arrest as he continues to face money laundering charges, judicial sources confirmed.

The change in his legal status followed a hearing to review his pretrial detention measure at the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico, which concluded in the early hours of Friday.

The court had granted a preventive detention order for money laundering in September 2023, but its application was delayed after Borge was acquitted of organized crime charges. The delay stemmed from a motion filed by Federal Control Judge Carmen Nayelly Ortega Gutiérrez, who cited a conflict of interest due to her friendship with one of Borge’s attorneys.

After the conflict of interest was declared by the Collegiate Appeals Court of Nezahualcóyotl more than a week ago, a new judge was assigned to review the preventive detention measure.

According to a review of case file 381/2017 by Novedades Quintana Roo, the hearing began Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and ended at 1:03 a.m. Friday, lasting just over seven hours. Borge followed the proceedings electronically from the Ayala prison.

During the hearing, the court upheld the preventive detention order from September 2023. Borge was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor, and the home designated for his house arrest was inspected.

Borge’s transfer occurred quietly on Friday, with no photographs of the former governor released so far.

The money laundering charges stem from the auction of 22 properties using funds of alleged illicit origin, which reportedly caused a loss to the state treasury of more than 900 million pesos (about $45 million).

Borge was acquitted on May 28 of organized crime charges by the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Xochitepec, Morelos. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office (FGR), which brought the charges, has not yet appealed, so the acquittal could become final.

Borge was arrested on June 4, 2017, in Panama as he was about to board a flight to France. He was extradited to Mexico in January 2019 and charged with money laundering and embezzlement related to land sales in Quintana Roo.