The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) has formally charged five former officials from the municipality of Aguascalientes—the capital of the state of the same name—regarding the irregular March 2019 contracting of the company Next Energy. The contract was for an energy supply service that was never fulfilled, resulting in financial losses amounting to millions for the municipal government.
The mayor at the time (2017–2021) was Teresa Jiménez, the current state governor and a member of the opposition PAN party. Although her signature appears on the contract currently under investigation, prosecutors have decided—for the time being—not to include her in the charges, opting instead to indict only five of her former aides who endorsed the fraudulent agreement.
Federal sources indicate that the FGR considers Jiménez part of the corruption scheme; however, prosecutors made a calculated political decision not to implicate her to avoid the appearance of a vendetta by the ruling party against the opposition. Such a move could have sparked accusations that the justice system was being politicized—particularly at a time when former Baja California Governor Ernesto Ruffo has been jailed for alleged tax fraud involving fuel, and Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos is under investigation for alleged treason.
The investigation is being led by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Corruption (FEMCC). The charged officials are Jaime Gerardo Beltrán Martínez (former Municipal Secretary and Director General of Government); Alfredo Martín Cervantes García (Secretary of Finance); Mónica Marcela Díaz Aranda (Acting Head of the Secretariat of Administration); Rodolfo Téllez Moreno (Secretary of Public Services and contract administrator); and Luis Alberto Rivera Vargas (Municipal Comptroller/Legal Representative).
Beltrán Martínez was elected as a magistrate in the 2024 judicial election and has claimed immunity from prosecution; consequently, he has filed an *amparo* (constitutional injunction) against the notification of the lawsuit brought by the Prosecutor’s Office.
Parallel to the federal investigation (FGR), the Aguascalientes state prosecutor’s office—under Jiménez’s own administration—has launched several investigations into the case and arrested Eugenio Maíz Domene, the owner of Next Energy, charging him with fraud, bribery, and embezzlement. Identified as the mastermind behind the corruption scheme,
Maíz has been held in the state prison since December 2025. No state-level investigation implicates the governor. In response to an inquiry from this newspaper, a representative for Jiménez stated that the governor committed no irregularities and accused the ruling party of “litigating the matter in the media.” “There have been arrests and convictions. Time is proving us right,” the representative noted.
Key details of the contract
Investigations by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office uncovered multiple irregularities in the contract signed between the municipality of Aguascalientes and Next Energy. The contract was ostensibly intended for the “development of infrastructure for the generation and supply of electric power.” The company proposed building a solar panel farm in the state capital, supplying a portion of the electricity to the municipality, and selling the remainder commercially.
Through a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme, the city council committed to paying the company 949 million pesos (54.5 million dollars) over 30 years, although the actual total amount came to 7.854 billion pesos (451 million dollars). It was stipulated that 26% of current and future federal funds allocated to the municipality would be used to meet these payments. Additional funding for the payments was to come from revenue collected via the public lighting fee. Thus, the payment scheme for Next Energy was a hybrid arrangement involving federal and state funds managed through a trust at Banca Afirme.
However, the federal origin of the funds was the decisive factor prompting the FGR (Attorney General’s Office) to take over the investigation. The agency accuses five of Jiménez’s former associates of the illicit exercise of authority and powers for having granted illegal financial authorizations. The Financial Discipline Law mandates that federal resources be used for productive public investments; in the case of Next Energy, the contract deceptively stated that a municipality-owned photovoltaic plant would be built, whereas, in reality, the company would retain control of the infrastructure and provide energy supply services to the local government.
