MEXICO CITY — A former Mexican governor who is being investigated for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars from state coffers was detained Friday amid reports of his extravagant personal spending, officials said.
Former Tabasco Gov. Andres Granier was detained by federal prosecutors based on a request from state prosecutors, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement. Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into allegations that $156 million (2 billion pesos) were embezzled during his term, but they have not charged him.
Granier, of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, left office last year and abandoned Mexico shortly after. He returned on Tuesday to talk to federal prosecutors.
Granier has denied any wrongdoing and said he had to leave Mexico because he was threatened by organized crime.
Granier's lawyer, Eduardo Luengo, said his client was taken to a hospital Friday after feeling chest pain and that he is being guarded by federal agents.
Current Tabasco Gov. Arturo Nunez, of the opposition Democratic Revolution Party, has repeatedly accused his predecessor of plunging the state into debt by squandering and embezzling millions of dollars and of representing Mexico's corrupt, old-style politics.
Those claims have been strengthened by reports of extravagant spending by Granier and his inner circle, who have become subjects of a federal investigation.
Local media recently made public an audio in which Granier boasted about owning hundreds of suits and pairs of shoes and of only shopping at the best stores in Beverly Hills.
