La Derecha Diario Asf Uncovers Fraud in Benito Juárez Scholarships: Payments to Deceased and Unregistered Students
AMLO's social program delivered support to nearly 500 deceased beneficiaries.
The Superior Audit Office of the Federation (ASF) revealed that in 2023 the López Obrador government granted the Benito Juárez Scholarship to 486 deceased students.
"The registry of people who died in the fiscal year 2023, provided by the National Population Registry (Renapo), was compared with the list of scholarship beneficiaries from the National Coordination of Scholarships for the Welfare Benito Juárez (CNBBBJ)," reported the ASF.
Millions of pesos in improper payments
The report indicates that during 2023, 513 payments were made to the 486 deceased students, totaling a misappropriation of 1,061,000 pesos.
But the scandal doesn't end there. It was also detected that scholarships were awarded to 19,984 students who weren't even registered with the Public Education Secretariat (SEP). These payments totaled 101,314,000 pesos.
More irregularities in the scholarship program
The fraud doesn't stop with the deceased students. The ASF found that out of a total of 1,600,017 pesos paid after the beneficiaries' date of death, the CNBBBJ could only justify a part.
However, 110 payments to 106 deceased students were identified, totaling 374.5 million pesos.
"A probable damage or detriment, or both, to the Federal Public Treasury is presumed for an amount of 374,500.00 pesos, for having made payments to 106 students after their date of death," reported the ASF.
What is the ASF and why is it important?
The Superior Audit Office of the Federation (ASF) is Mexico's auditing body. Its main function is to audit the use of federal public resources.
The ASF has the authority to review all operations involving public money, including the management of the government's social programs.
Will those responsible be punished?
This new scandal in the Benito Juárez Scholarships once again demonstrates the lack of controls in the social programs of the Andrés Manuel López Obrador administration.
Meanwhile millions of Mexicans face shortages, public money continues to be squandered on improper payments. The key question is: will there be consequences or will corruption remain unpunished?
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