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| - Bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht financed the presidential campaign that brought Mexico's Enrique Pena Nieto to power in 2012, the ex-boss of state oil firm PEMEX said Tuesday, quoted by prosecutors. Emilio Lozoya, who is on trial, said that a series of bribes exceeding 100 million pesos (about $4.4 million) "were mainly used for the 2012 presidential campaign," Attorney General Alejandro Gertz told reporters. "That amount of money... came from Odebrecht," Gertz added. Lozoya, who has been given the status of "collaborating witness," alleged that Pena Nieto and his campaign coordinator "were the ones who ordered that this money be delivered to various foreign electoral advisers," Gertz said. Lozoya, who headed the state oil company from 2012 to 2016, agreed to be extradited from Spain last month and was put on trial soon after his return. Odebrecht, the largest construction firm in Latin America, has admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to win contracts in 12 countries, including Mexico. The scandal has brought down ex-presidents and top officials in countries including Brazil, Peru and Colombia. jg-dr/dw
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