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Mexico removing Dallas consul general amid financial investigation
11:10 PM CDT on Friday, August 14, 2009
By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
MEXICO CITY – The Mexican government will remove Enrique Hubbard, the Mexican consul general in North Texas, from his post amid an internal investigation into financial irregularities at the Dallas consulate, Mexican officials say.
Hubbard is facing allegations that he tolerated staff members personally profiting from selling passport-size photos and photocopying documents and from skimming money from passport fees, according to a senior Mexican official with knowledge of the Dallas investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The allegations of financial misconduct in the consulate were verified by three other Mexican officials on both sides of the border.
"At this point it's unfair to say the man is corrupt," the senior Mexican official said of Hubbard. "Maybe he's just a bad manager, but the bottom line is that the activities in the Dallas office are unacceptable and unbelievable."
Hubbard, who is popular among immigrants in Dallas, said he had heard "rumors and speculation" of his pending departure "but nothing at this point is confirmed. Nothing is official."
"I haven't been told a word. I'm speechless," he said.
The senior Mexican official said that an internal investigation of the Dallas consulate by the Mexican attorney general's office and Foreign Ministry had uncovered "tens of thousands of dollars" in missing fees.
Hubbard denied the official's account. "Some small complaints were raised, but those issues have been taken care off," he said. "We have annual audits, and I have not been told of any problem."
The Foreign Ministry issued a statement late Friday saying: "We are verifying processes and accounting of fees for services at the consulate in Dallas, with the help of internal auditors and other accounting agencies." The ministry said the procedure is standard practice.
The attorney general's office denied having knowledge that an investigation was under way.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said a statement would be released shortly.
In terms of activity and the size of the local Mexican population, Dallas is the third-most-important consulate in the United States, after Los Angeles and Chicago and followed closely by New York City and Houston. Daily fees collected generate thousands of dollars.
The Mexican Consulate in Dallas, with about 45 employees, issues more than 50,000 Mexican identification cards a year. An average of 700 people visit the office daily. North Texas is home to 1.7 million Mexicans, Mexican officials say.
During his three years as consul general in Dallas, Hubbard gained a reputation as a strong advocate of immigrant rights. He took what many considered to be tough and bold stances against groups who painted Mexican immigrants as villains. He was also vocal against policies that targeted illegal immigrants living and working in Farmers Branch and Irving.
"Enrique Hubbard has been the best consul general we've had since I've been here, and we're talking 1984," said Gustavo Bujanda, vice president of public relations for the Axis Agency and a board member of Casa Ciudad de Mexico, a group of hometown organizations that serves as bridge between the United States and the immigrants' hometowns in Mexico. "He's been very accessible and open to the entire Mexican community that resides in Dallas. He's been a great spokesman for our community."
During a recent meeting with immigrant groups, Hubbard said he would be leaving, Bujanda said, adding that the consul general's departure was "the worst-kept secret in Dallas."
"Ambassador Hubbard will be tremendously missed," Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said. "We worked closely together building ties here in the community as well as with our neighbors to the south. He also played an instrumental role in planning two economic mission trips to Mexico and bringing President [Felipe] Calderón to Dallas. We wish him well."
Asked whether he had asked for a transfer, Hubbard replied: "No, I didn't. I'd very much like to stay in Dallas, but as a career service diplomat, we have no choice in the matter. When we're told to leave, we leave. But again at this time there is nothing official."
Hubbard is expected to move to Washington, where he is to be reassigned as a diplomatic resident at American University to teach and conduct research, a Mexican official said. The move is expected in the weeks to come. The program is coordinated between Mexico's Foreign Ministry and American University.
A spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington said he had no comment on an investigation into the Dallas office or on Hubbard's reported transfer to Washington.
It remains unclear who would succeed Hubbard, but one name that has emerged is Juan Carlos Cue Vega, the ambassador to Kenya and former consul general in El Paso, a Mexican official said.
Hubbard, a native of Rosario, Sinaloa, is a diplomat with 35 years of experience and the rank of ambassador since 1988. He has previously been posted in the Philippines, Belize, Brazil, Miami and Brownsville.
Skimming passport fees is suspected at other Mexican consulate offices in the United States, two Mexican officials said, though the suspected fraud in Dallas was acute.
The passport scheme works the following way, the officials said: Employees would receive processing fees from people applying for a five-year passport that costs $100. But employees would report that they had issued a one-year passport costing $30. The difference would be pocketed.
Officials said they believed the scheme had been in place prior to Hubbard's arrival.
11:10 PM CDT on Friday, August 14, 2009
By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
MEXICO CITY – The Mexican government will remove Enrique Hubbard, the Mexican consul general in North Texas, from his post amid an internal investigation into financial irregularities at the Dallas consulate, Mexican officials say.
Hubbard is facing allegations that he tolerated staff members personally profiting from selling passport-size photos and photocopying documents and from skimming money from passport fees, according to a senior Mexican official with knowledge of the Dallas investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The allegations of financial misconduct in the consulate were verified by three other Mexican officials on both sides of the border.
"At this point it's unfair to say the man is corrupt," the senior Mexican official said of Hubbard. "Maybe he's just a bad manager, but the bottom line is that the activities in the Dallas office are unacceptable and unbelievable."
Hubbard, who is popular among immigrants in Dallas, said he had heard "rumors and speculation" of his pending departure "but nothing at this point is confirmed. Nothing is official."
"I haven't been told a word. I'm speechless," he said.
The senior Mexican official said that an internal investigation of the Dallas consulate by the Mexican attorney general's office and Foreign Ministry had uncovered "tens of thousands of dollars" in missing fees.
Hubbard denied the official's account. "Some small complaints were raised, but those issues have been taken care off," he said. "We have annual audits, and I have not been told of any problem."
The Foreign Ministry issued a statement late Friday saying: "We are verifying processes and accounting of fees for services at the consulate in Dallas, with the help of internal auditors and other accounting agencies." The ministry said the procedure is standard practice.
The attorney general's office denied having knowledge that an investigation was under way.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said a statement would be released shortly.
In terms of activity and the size of the local Mexican population, Dallas is the third-most-important consulate in the United States, after Los Angeles and Chicago and followed closely by New York City and Houston. Daily fees collected generate thousands of dollars.
The Mexican Consulate in Dallas, with about 45 employees, issues more than 50,000 Mexican identification cards a year. An average of 700 people visit the office daily. North Texas is home to 1.7 million Mexicans, Mexican officials say.
During his three years as consul general in Dallas, Hubbard gained a reputation as a strong advocate of immigrant rights. He took what many considered to be tough and bold stances against groups who painted Mexican immigrants as villains. He was also vocal against policies that targeted illegal immigrants living and working in Farmers Branch and Irving.
"Enrique Hubbard has been the best consul general we've had since I've been here, and we're talking 1984," said Gustavo Bujanda, vice president of public relations for the Axis Agency and a board member of Casa Ciudad de Mexico, a group of hometown organizations that serves as bridge between the United States and the immigrants' hometowns in Mexico. "He's been very accessible and open to the entire Mexican community that resides in Dallas. He's been a great spokesman for our community."
During a recent meeting with immigrant groups, Hubbard said he would be leaving, Bujanda said, adding that the consul general's departure was "the worst-kept secret in Dallas."
"Ambassador Hubbard will be tremendously missed," Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said. "We worked closely together building ties here in the community as well as with our neighbors to the south. He also played an instrumental role in planning two economic mission trips to Mexico and bringing President [Felipe] Calderón to Dallas. We wish him well."
Asked whether he had asked for a transfer, Hubbard replied: "No, I didn't. I'd very much like to stay in Dallas, but as a career service diplomat, we have no choice in the matter. When we're told to leave, we leave. But again at this time there is nothing official."
Hubbard is expected to move to Washington, where he is to be reassigned as a diplomatic resident at American University to teach and conduct research, a Mexican official said. The move is expected in the weeks to come. The program is coordinated between Mexico's Foreign Ministry and American University.
A spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington said he had no comment on an investigation into the Dallas office or on Hubbard's reported transfer to Washington.
It remains unclear who would succeed Hubbard, but one name that has emerged is Juan Carlos Cue Vega, the ambassador to Kenya and former consul general in El Paso, a Mexican official said.
Hubbard, a native of Rosario, Sinaloa, is a diplomat with 35 years of experience and the rank of ambassador since 1988. He has previously been posted in the Philippines, Belize, Brazil, Miami and Brownsville.
Skimming passport fees is suspected at other Mexican consulate offices in the United States, two Mexican officials said, though the suspected fraud in Dallas was acute.
The passport scheme works the following way, the officials said: Employees would receive processing fees from people applying for a five-year passport that costs $100. But employees would report that they had issued a one-year passport costing $30. The difference would be pocketed.
Officials said they believed the scheme had been in place prior to Hubbard's arrival.
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