When the proposal to raffle off property confiscated by the state came up, many of us were Mexicans who found the event funny (imagine your reaction when you won the house that El Chapo ran away from after buying a lottery ticket!); However, after this September 15, the comedy became a big question: is raffling assets alienated by the government a practice that should be regulated by our laws?
The answer - according to the majority of the Plenary of the Senate of the Republic - is yes. It is important to include the draw method as one more form of alienation of State assets because current measures to dispose of these properties do not allow taking advantage of them, but, on the contrary, they end up being a monetary burden for the State.
The discussion in the Chamber of Senators took place on September 13 of this year and concluded in the reception of 60 votes in favor and 41 against the reform of some articles of the General Law of National Assets and of the Federal Law for the Administration and Disposal of Public Sector Assets, an act that gave rise to the possibility of holding the Great Special Draw, held on September 15, 2021 through the National Lottery.
This extraordinary raffle laid the foundations for the raffle of real estate seized from citizens that derive from seizures and seizures carried out by federal authorities; that are given in payment to cover credits in favor of the government, or that are seized by it. For example, on this occasion, the box at the Azteca Stadium that was bought by officials from the Forecasts for Public Assistance for their personal use, the aforementioned house of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and other similar assets were raffled.
The other side of approving the reform
The opposition to this reform pointed out that there are several details that should have been considered before approving this law:
"By including the word raffle, the sale or bidding is not eliminated as a way to dispose of the goods, (but) their destination is subject to chance and now a minimum amount will be paid to enter the raffle", Israel Zamora, Senator on behalf of the PVEM .
This includes the fact that, even if a ticket is bought and the raffle is won, previous procedures would still have to be carried out for the properties to be ready to be raffled (for example, the pertinent lawsuits for the insured properties to change their legal status when of “confiscated property”), something that would continue to represent a cost for the State as well as that could generate further inconveniences in the future.
Another Senator, but from the PRI bench, pointed out that there are already precedents for raffle failures:
“In Fresnillo, Zacatecas, the 20 million pesos from the ’raffle-no-raffle’ for the presidential plane have not arrived. We are making a quagmire of government instruments. Why did Jaime Cárdenas run away from the Institute to Return the Stolen to the People? Because there was corruption, because there was direct allocation of auction beneficiaries, ”he said.
These concerns are important because, if they become reality, we would be seeing another mechanism that could be used to fuel corruption in the country. The only way to prevent it is by contemplating the way to create a process of raffle of alienated assets that is transparent and promotes the participation of the average citizen, but is this contemplated in the Reform that was approved?
This is what the articles that were refurbished say
In the General Law of National Assets:
“ARTICLE 132.- Except for the cases included in the third and fourth paragraphs of this article, the sale will be made through public bidding. If the sale of the goods is not achieved through the public bidding procedure, they will be auctioned at the same event, under the terms indicated in the general regulations issued by the Secretariat. Goods may also be sold by lottery.
The provisions of the preceding paragraphs regarding the minimum sale value will not be applicable to the cases of lottery and auction referred to in the first and second paragraphs of this article ".
The changes applied to this article establish that the main procedure to follow with this class of goods will continue to be public bidding; that is, by means of an open call to any natural and legal person who wishes to acquire said real estate according to the terms already assigned by the authority to carry out the purchase.
Then, and only in the event that the sale cannot be made through public bidding, then the raffles may be held, taking into consideration that the minimum sale value will not apply in this case since the profit of the raffle could be higher than that which it could be achieved under the best market conditions.
Regarding the Federal Law for the Administration and Disposal of Public Sector Assets, the following modifications were established:
“Article 31.- The alienation procedures will be the following:
“Article 38.- The Institute may sell the Goods through the following procedures:
III.- Auction;
IV.- Direct award, or
V.- Draw ”.
conclusion
Although the proposal to carry out raffles for alienated assets is interesting and, if carried out appropriately, it could help alleviate the monetary burden that these assets represent for the State, as well as generate a new source of public income and a way for citizens to If we manage to increase our wealth more economically, inconveniences such as the problem of corruption or leaving the investment of the average citizen to chance, no matter how small it may be.
Probably in the future it will be necessary to make new reforms to these or other articles or that, as a result of these reforms, new laws or regulations may arise to regulate said activities, ensuring transparency in the lottery process and establishing action protocols to punish whoever violates this new resource.
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