MEXICO CITY, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A judge opened a case against the former governor of Tamaulipas, Eugenio Hernandez, who stands accused of speculation and money laundering in the alleged purchase of a plot of land at the port of Altamira.
In a hearing on Thursday, Juan Manuel Ham, a judge in the city of Ciudad Victoria, remanded Hernandez in custody, saying that the state's anti-corruption prosecutor had provided enough evidence.
In a statement, the prosecutor said that Hernandez, who governed Tamaulipas from 2005 to 2010, will remain jailed in Ciudad Victoria, where he has been kept since being arrested on Oct. 6.
In the investigation, the prosecutor found that Hernandez and accomplices took over ownership of a piece of land of 1,600 hectares in the port of Altamira, which belonged to the government.
The evidence allegedly shows that Hernandez bought the land for just 1.5 percent of its real value, which is currently estimated at 1.58 billion pesos (84 million U.S. dollars).
The authorities seized the plot of land on Oct. 7 as part of their investigations, with the accomplices of Hernandez still being sought.
Hernandez' predecessor as governor of Tamaulipas, Tomas Yarrington, has been under arrest in Italy since April, when Interpol agents arrested him. Both the U.S. and Mexico have asked for his extradition to answer drug trafficking charges.
