Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has ordered an investigation into contracts worth about 25 billion pesos awarded to Corporativo Kosmos, a food and pharmaceuticals supplier owned by businessman Jack Landsmanas. The order came on Wednesday 11 November after El Universal published an investigation into the group's public contracts.

Sheinbaum told her morning press conference at the National Palace that she had asked Raquel Buenrostro, head of the Secretariat for Anti-Corruption and Good Government, to review how the contracts were awarded and to determine whether any irregularities occurred. She said the findings should be made public. The investigation is a review of the contracting procedures; it is not a finding of wrongdoing, and no irregularity has been established at this stage.

What Sheinbaum ordered

Speaking at the daily morning conference, Sheinbaum said she had acted as soon as she saw the El Universal report. "I saw the article and asked the secretary (for Anti-Corruption and Good Government), Raquel Buenrostro, to conduct an investigation and respond to the article," she said. "And if there was any improper procedure or any act that should not have occurred, then action should be taken."

She asked the ministry to publish the results of its review together with the information about the contracting processes in question, so that it can be established whether the contracts were awarded in line with the rules. The instruction puts the case in the hands of the government's own anti-corruption body rather than leaving it as a press allegation.

What the contracts cover

According to El Universal's investigation, companies linked to Corporativo Kosmos have received public contracts worth more than 25 billion pesos since December 2018 for food services and the supply of medicines and pharmaceutical products to federal agencies and state governments. The newspaper's review of records on the National Transparency Platform and the ComprasMX procurement system put the total at at least 25,787,791,404 pesos, counting only the minimum amounts set out in the contracts.

Of that total, about 5.25 billion pesos came from federal budgets and about 20.54 billion pesos from state resources, according to the newspaper's analysis. The largest federal recipient was IMSS-Bienestar, the public health body, which allocated about 1.92 billion pesos for food and provisions for hospitals through companies including Productos Serel and Kol-Tov. Grupo Kosmos groups companies owned by the Landsmanas family, mainly supplying food to institutional canteens, and also includes pharmaceutical suppliers such as Farmacos Darovi.

El Universal said it sought the group's position before publication. The newspaper also reported that in 2019 the Financial Intelligence Unit had flagged companies linked to Landsmanas over alleged irregularities, but that the resulting investigation was archived by the Attorney General's Office without reaching court.

A separate electoral-contracts case

At the same press conference, Sheinbaum was questioned about a separate case involving Cajas Graf and Corporativo Zeg, companies linked to the Hernandez Casillas brothers, who have been described as members of the so-called Taddei clan and accused of obtaining contracts worth more than 2.74 billion pesos from local electoral bodies. Reports say the two companies allegedly operated through a scheme in which individuals set up companies and later transferred their rights to the brothers.

Sheinbaum stressed that the two cases are distinct. "The other company has nothing to do with these companies, the one El Universal is reporting on today. So, it's a different company," she said. She recalled that her government had already reported suspected front-person practices involving some companies linked to the National Electoral Institute (INE), and that the electoral-contracts case should be pursued separately from the Corporativo Kosmos review.

What happens next

The Secretariat for Anti-Corruption and Good Government will now examine the procedures used to award the Corporativo Kosmos contracts and report publicly on what it finds. If it identifies improper procedures or conduct that should not have occurred, Sheinbaum said action should follow. Until that review is complete, the scale of the contracts is established, but whether any rules were broken is not.

The case adds to a wider debate in Mexico about whether a small number of suppliers win a disproportionate share of government business. Sheinbaum has repeatedly called for contracting to be more transparent and competitive, and the Kosmos review will test whether that scrutiny extends to long-standing suppliers.

Frequently asked questions

How much are the Corporativo Kosmos contracts worth? About 25 billion pesos since December 2018, according to El Universal's review of public procurement records.

Who ordered the investigation? President Claudia Sheinbaum, who asked Raquel Buenrostro, head of the Secretariat for Anti-Corruption and Good Government, to review the contracts and publish the findings.

Has any wrongdoing been found? No. The review has only just been ordered, and no irregularity has been established.

Sources: SonoraPresente and El Universal, via Lado.mx.