Breathe
By Yohali Reséndiz
It took me many months to realize that in my mailbox I had been sent, as many journalists, civil associations and high-level authorities, the information of the "Pegasus" malware, in which through audios, WhatsApp conversations with phone numbers and documents, it hinted that the protagonists were plotting to weaken and end the "Wallace Case", a case that is not unknown to me because for many years I covered it journalistically as a reporter of "specials" of Grupo Imagen.
That luck of not looking at that email at the same time as all the recipients positioned me as a big winner. From the beginning, the content that left the protagonists in a very bad position had already been dedicated to defend themselves through the spaces of "friends", columns written as a defense, from the victimhood and, of course, always trying to clean the indelible stains they leave: the discredit and being singled out as corrupt.
One day, my email was saturated and I was forced to delete those large emails, and that's how I found all the information on which I base my investigative report "The Secret Account of Arturo Zaldívar", which is since February 25 on my YouTube channel.
When I opened that email, everything I read and heard in the attached audios made me "click", there was logic in that there was a conspiracy to discredit the Wallace Case. However, something that outraged me, worried me and surprised me, is that in these WhatsApp conversations Minister Arturo Fernando Zaldívar Lelo de Larrea was involved and that in addition, according to this malware, he was collecting money owed to him for favors in exchange for justice. The rest of that information was secondary, part of the operation, but for me, secondary.
I reiterate, in the network, those who wrote about the "Pegasus" malware and never noticed or did not want to notice what, if true, meant a scandal: THE PRESIDENT MINISTER RECEIVING BRIBBORIES.
For this investigation I spent several months, a year and 8 months. Arturo Zaldívar had an insurance policy with METLIFE, an investment fund account with BBVA, a savings account with HSBC, another investment fund account with Banco INVEX, an investment fund account in the United States with Santander International Private Banking, an investment fund account with ITERCAM, another bank account with BBVA, but there was no "Banorte" account.
It was exhausting to find the information and corroborate through the termination of the account (9083) (3895) that appeared in a voucher provided by "PEGASUS" was active and then find the full account number. It took me almost 7 months to find out that the owner of that account corresponded to the Mexican Arturo Fernando Zaldívar Lelo de Larrea and three more months to obtain the complete account number.
As I have already made public, with that data I started knocking on doors in national and international media. I was received in private offices and after the exposition of my investigation, I entered into an exhausting questionnaire of genuine doubts, which I answered one by one. The answer was unanimous: "we cannot go in, even though your information is very well supported, Zaldívar is very powerful and we are not going to go in".
One of the journalists (I will omit his name) who knew about my investigation and who I know never doubted that it was about "Corruption from Zaldívar's office" was willing to make it public in his space even though he had a doubt and a request:
The first: Why would a Presiding Magistrate accept so little for assisting in cases (300 THOUSAND AND 600 THOUSAND, which is what Pegasus says he was able to exhibit) earning what he earns?
And the second: Bring you a statement of account (or voucher) in which you could read the name and that the account was active.
Regarding your first doubt: Today, I can say that it was no longer about the amount because it is clear that Zaldívar did not put a price on his "help" but that the bribes came from the counterpart. Today I can argue that it was not the amount but the power of having justice and giving it to the one who paid. The power to have justice knock on his door and he decided where to place it.
Regarding the second: I went to a Banorte branch and deposited 50 pesos. My stomach was upset when the teller asked me: "Arturo Fernando Zaldivar Lelo de Larrea? Yes, I answered. 50 pesos? Yes, I answered. Anything else I can help you with? He said. I remember that when he handed me the voucher and I read the name, my head was spinning.
When I left, I sent the photo and for the receiver, there was no longer any doubt. There was an undeclared account from which it was presumed that bribes were received.
I proceeded to seek an interview with Arturo Zaldívar, the protagonist of my report. However, Zaldívar sent me a message through his Secretary with the last name of Castaños in which he referred to me that: "In connection with the request for an interview with Minister Zaldivar, I would like to comment that on December 16, 2022 during an interview, Arturo Zaldivar has made the determination not to speak or comment on issues related to Mrs. Miranda de Wallace. Minister Zaldivar denies the existence of any type of communication that Mrs. Wallace intends to publish under her name and has filed a complaint of facts before the Attorney General's Office of the Republic whose investigation is still ongoing". I must clarify that I have this conversation documented.
That journalist practically began to ask me for proof that the money had been deposited there and, of course, I was not willing to enter Zaldívar's house and steal a bank statement.
And something happened. The journalist did not dare to make it public either.
After Minister Zaldívar refused my interview about my investigation, it was the Minister who gathered more information about my request and when he learned that I had obtained information about an account of his in Banorte and that I had made a deposit to it, the Minister argued that surely it was an account of a homonym or that perhaps someone in his name had opened an account. I must also say that after he learned of my investigation, the debit account in the name of Arturo Fernando Zaldívar Lelo de Larrea to which I deposited in Banorte was cancelled and the then Minister President dared to call some of the spaces where I collaborate to vaccinate himself and somehow stop me from making my investigation public, "The journalist Yohali Reséndiz, is preparing a great offensive against me" he justified.
That's when I knew that no one wanted to enter the complaint and with great frustration I kept my report in my file cabinet for another few months.
It was February of this year when President López Obrador said the following during the morning news: "Even when Arturo Zaldívar was President of the Court, there was more restraint. Still, when there was a matter of this type (such as the release of Emilio Lozoya) we would respectfully intervene" and after hearing this statement, I dusted off my report, looked for an editor friend, re-recorded to update my report, added the video of López Obrador and the video was uploaded to my channel.
The rest is explained in my report and in the response I also requested from Banorte, which is also in a video on my YouTube account.
It wasn't my job to review their credit card charges. The Pegasus malware is not something I did. I did not spy. I received that email with information that whether it is legal or not for my report is only the context because when following the money trail I, unlike many who received the same email, I found a real, active account. The rest is up to others. I only did investigative journalism.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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