Max de Haldevang and Amy Stillman, Bloomberg New

MEXICO CITY
EnergiesNet.com 02 24 2022

U.S. oil service provider Baker Hughes Co. said Monday an external audit found no irregularities after a former executive rented his luxury home to the eldest son of Mexico’s president.

The company hired the R. McConnell Group to conduct an audit and send the results to Petroleos Mexicanos, said Bob Perez, Baker Hughes Mexico head, at a press conference held by Pemex’s chief executive officer Octavio Romero Oropeza on Monday. 

The home rented by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s son became the focus of an alleged conflict of interest scandal after a report the Texas mansion belonged to Keith Schilling, a former executive of Baker Hughes, which is one of the top oil service providers of Pemex.

The non-profit civil association Mexicans Against Corruption and news outlet Latinus said that Jose Ramon Lopez Beltran, the president’s 40-year-old son, has lived in recent years in two homes in Texas, each worth nearly $1 million. The scandal has reached AMLO, as the president is known, who has lashed out at the media for comparing the case with previous scandals involving Mexican politicians.

Schilling rented the house independently, without the participation or knowledge of Baker Hughes, the R. McConnell Group said in a press statement on the findings. The McConnell investigation found that in July 2019, Lopez Beltran’s wife Carolyn Adams rented the property and didn’t mention that Lopez Beltran would reside there.

Mexico President Says Son’s Home Scandal Unrelated to Government

Schilling left Baker Hughes December 2019. He worked in the North America group that doesn’t include Pemex, and Perez said the company has no control or influence over the house or decisions made by Schilling.

Perez emphasized Schilling didn’t work on matters related to Mexico.

bloomberg.com 02 23 2022