Mexico City /
After two hours of heated debate, the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies approved with 266 votes in favor and 219 once morest the reforms to the Credit Institutions Law so that the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of the Ministry of Finance can freeze bank accounts without a court order or notification to the user, in case there are indications of operations with resources of illicit origin or financing of terrorism.
The project turned over to the Executive for its publication and entry into force establishes the audience guarantee for people whose accounts have been blocked.
With the opposition bloc PAN-PRI-PRD and MC, the Morenista legislator Lidia García voted once morest, warning that the reform is not once morest organized crime, but once morest natural and legal persons who have seen their rights violated: “there is no need to approve a ruling that leaves citizens defenseless, violating their rights to free hearing and, above all, notification.”
When substantiating the opinion, the president of the Finance Commission, Luis Armando Melgar, maintained, however, that the reform respects the procedural rights of individuals.
“The purpose of the minute is to generate a procedure so that the competent authority fully respects the procedural rightss, beginning with the guarantee of a hearing for those who are included in the List of Blocked Persons, in the exercise of the functions of combating the crimes of financing terrorism, operations with resources of illicit origin and those associated with the indicated crimes”, said.
However, PRI legislator José Yunes Zorrilla pointed out that the reform to the Law of Credit Institutions affects fundamental constitutional principles, by empowering the FIU to block accounts without a court order.
“No one can be deprived of their rights, their properties, their possessions, their freedom, if there is no trial, in the first place, developed in previously established courts, where the essential procedural formalities are fulfilled and with laws voted and in force in advance, but that constitutional principle, to the detriment of all, is violated with this provision”, he accused.
for the PAN, the deputy Patricia Terrazas urged to reject the project returned by the Senatenoting that the FIU “cannot, nor should it be a police officer, nor have powers that by constitutional mandate only correspond to the Public Ministry, since we have all witnessed how it has violated due process and the presumption of innocence.”
In her turn, Morena’s vice-coordinator, Aleida Alavez, argued that the reform respects the right of people to be heard and thereby provides legal certainty users of financial services through a procedure clearly established by law.
JLMR
