President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has asked the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) to provide more details regarding the alleged involvement of Gilda Susana Lozoya Austin—sister of former Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) CEO Emilio Lozoya Austin—in the fraud surrounding the purchase of the Agronitrogenados plant.
“I did ask the Attorney General’s Office to report in greater detail on this person’s—Lozoya’s sister’s—involvement in this fraud, which concerned the purchase of a company that had previously been privatized, for a price far higher than its actual value,” the president stated during her morning press conference at the National Palace.
The head of the Federal Executive also requested clarification on whether businessman Alonso Ancira—former president of Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA)—had finished paying the $216 million reparation agreement he signed with PEMEX in 2021 to secure his release. “We also need to know if Alonso has finished paying or not; that is also a matter for the Attorney General’s Office,” Sheinbaum Pardo added.
Ancira had paid over $100 million of the agreement by 2023 but suspended remaining payments, citing a financial crisis at AHMSA; consequently, the FGR announced the resumption of criminal proceedings due to the breach of the agreement.
The president’s remarks followed a federal judge’s decision to grant provisional release to Gilda Lozoya Austin within the criminal proceedings against her regarding the Agronitrogenados case.
Judge Nora Ileana García Peralta, of the Federal Criminal Justice Center at the North Prison (Reclusorio Norte), determined that the FGR failed to substantiate a flight risk regarding the accused. She had been arrested on July 2, 2026, upon landing at Mexico City International Airport, pursuant to an arrest warrant issued in 2020 for the crime of operations involving resources of illicit origin. In a public hearing, the judge ruled that, instead of the justified pretrial detention requested by the FGR, Gilda Lozoya Austin must report to the Pretrial Measures Unit (Umeca) every 15 days to sign in and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. The ruling also prohibited her from leaving Mexico and ordered the surrender of her passport.
