Who is Linda Cristina Pereyra, García Luna's wife, who was ordered to pay $1.74 billion?

MEXICO CITY (apro).- Linda Cristina Pereyra Gálvez, wife of former Mexican Public Security Secretary Genaro García Luna, was sentenced in a Miami civil court to pay $1.74 billion to the Mexican government for her alleged involvement in a network of irregular contracts awarded during the time her husband held high-level positions in the federal government.

The ruling was issued by Judge Lisa Walsh of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County. In the same ruling, Genaro García Luna was ordered to pay an additional $748 million , bringing the couple's total to $2.488 billion in compensation for the misappropriation of public funds through a business network with operations in several countries.

Inflated contracts and family businesses

According to the Mexican government, between 2006 and 2012, the period during which García Luna was head of the Ministry of Public Security, and up to six years later, a business conglomerate operated by family members and associates of the former official received at least 30 contracts from public security institutions, for a cumulative amount of $745.9 million.

These contracts included services such as surveillance, prison technology, and intelligence equipment. Some of these funds were allegedly channeled into offshore bank accounts, primarily in Barbados, and then invested in properties and vehicles in the United States.

The Mexican government filed the civil lawsuit in September 2021 , seeking to recover assets acquired with public funds in the United States. This civil trial in Florida is separate from the criminal proceedings underway in New York against García Luna, who was convicted of drug trafficking-related offenses.

Profile of Linda Cristina Pereyra

Linda Cristina Pereyra holds a law degree from the Faculty of Professional and Postgraduate Studies , and registered her professional license in 2018. Originally from Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico, she met García Luna in the 1990s, when they both worked at the Center for National Security and Research (Cisen) and were pursuing their university studies. The couple married in 1995 and have two children: Genaro and Luna Sofía.

During the 2023 criminal trial in New York, Pereyra appeared as a defense witness and wrote a letter to Judge Brian Cogan highlighting the former official's family values, describing him as "respectful, loyal, and caring." In that letter, she also shared that she suffered from a chronic degenerative disease that required a kidney transplant, a period during which, she said, García Luna was her main support.

Presence during the trial

Since the beginning of the legal proceedings in the United States, Linda Pereyra has accompanied her husband to the hearings, along with their children. On one of the first days of the trial in the Eastern District Court of New York, García Luna offered them a gesture from the bench: a wink and a distant "I love you."

In previous statements, the former secretary's defense team—led by attorney César de Castro—has maintained that after leaving government office, García Luna engaged in private consulting in Florida and that his income was legitimate. However, U.S. and Mexican authorities presented records of multiple asset acquisitions and transfers to accounts linked to the marriage.

Business activities and assets

After Felipe Calderón's six-year term, the García-Pereyra family moved to Miami , where Linda Pereyra established new companies such as Los Cedros and Best Friends Group LLC, in addition to a restaurant registered with the same name as a previously opened location in Xochimilco, Mexico City.

According to an investigation by journalist J. Jesús Lemus, in 2007, Pereyra registered the Los Cedros restaurant in Mexico City with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property . In 2010, the Tax Administration Service (SAT) allegedly forgave them 4.7 million pesos in tax debts.

In December 2019, Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit froze 11 bank accounts linked to García Luna , including those of his wife and sister, after detecting that they had received funds from companies with public contracts.

Criminal sentence pending appeal

García Luna was arrested in Dallas, Texas, in December 2019 , accused of accepting bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel to facilitate its operations while serving as a senior official. On February 21, 2023, he was found guilty of five offenses: drug trafficking conspiracy, membership in a criminal organization, and making false statements. He was sentenced to 38 years and four months in prison and a $2 million fine. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted him a four-month extension to appeal his conviction.

The civil judgment issued does not entail prison time, but requires the repayment of millions of dollars. The Mexican federal government maintains that these funds will be used to repair the damage to the public treasury and has requested international support to recover assets outside the United States.