El Paso, Texas — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Bertha Olga Gómez Fong, the wife of former Chihuahua governor César Duarte, on Wednesday in Texas, according to official records. She was taken to the El Paso Processing Center amid proceedings related to her immigration status.
While her detention initially stems from immigration matters, authorities have not ruled out sending Gómez Fong to Mexico, where she faces accusations of alleged complicity in corruption crimes attributed to her husband during his administration.
The former governor from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was arrested last December by Mexico’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which accuses him of leading a scheme to divert at least 73 million pesos in public funds during his term in Chihuahua from 2010 to 2016. He is currently held at the Altiplano prison in the State of Mexico.
Mexican authorities have had an arrest warrant for Gómez Fong since 2020 for her alleged involvement. At that time, she filed an injunction to avoid detention and potential extradition while residing in the United States, specifically in Miami, Florida.
According to journalistic investigations, Gómez Fong participated in creating several companies with Duarte, some established even during her time abroad. She also served as honorary director of the state DIF (family services agency) in Chihuahua, a position that, though unpaid, has been flagged for potentially enabling irregularities in resource management.
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