Former CNBV president Eduardo Fernández found guilty of attempted extortion of Televisa

The former president of the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) , Eduardo Fernández García , has been found guilty in Mexico and the United States of the crime of attempted extortion against Televisa, a company from which he demanded 250 million pesos in exchange for not publicly revealing alleged illicit activities of its directors. The former official had an Interpol red notice against him derived from an arrest warrant issued by a judge in Mexico City for the crime of extortion. In February 2024, he was arrested at Madrid Barajas airport and extradited to Mexico. A year later, a civil court in the Mexican capital and a judicial court in the State of Florida, in the United States, found him guilty.

The fourth civil judge has indicated in his sentence that Fernández García acted with “actual malice” and has been prohibited from disseminating any information about the company, its subsidiaries and its executives. The judge has yet to determine the sentence he will have to serve in a future hearing. The former president of the CNBV was warned that if he incurs in the same intimidation or in the dissemination of information about the stock market and financial situation of the television station, he will have to pay 50 million pesos for moral damages.

Fernández García, who was president of the CNBV between 1995 and 2000, admitted in court to having sent several letters to Televisa executives demanding payment of 250 million pesos in exchange for not revealing alleged financial irregularities related to money laundering and corruption between 2008 and 2011 that were directly aimed at the top management of Grupo Televisa and that were carried out through his company, Diversity Investment Corp. In 2022, he filed a formal complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Televisa and its top executives: President Emilio Azcárraga Jean and Vice Presidents Alfonso de Angoitia and Bernardo Gómez Martínez .

In response to these accusations, the business group sued Fernández in a Florida court. This week, Judge Thomas J. Rebull, of the eleventh judicial circuit, sentenced the former president for attempted extortion, conspiracy and defamation. The judge determined that Fernández García must pay compensation to the company and its directors, and he has been warned that he will be fined five million dollars if he commits a similar crime again.

After his capture, Fernández spent several months in Madrid's Soto del Real prison and was granted provisional release with the restriction of not leaving the country. Finally, he was extradited in October of that year to face justice in Mexico. This is not the first time that Fernández García has been in the dock. In 2003, he was arrested on charges of improper exercise of public service and disclosure of bank secrecy, when he revealed the bank accounts used to finance the campaign of former President Vicente Fox in exchange for 100 million pesos. The money was hidden in banks in Switzerland and Italy, however, after a month of house arrest, Fernández was released without charges.