Mexico’s Audit Office Targets Consortium in NAIM Case

Mexico City International Airport (NAIM). The project, originally valued at nearly MX$85 billion (US$4.94 billion), was halted in 2019 following the government’s decision to discontinue construction.

The consortium, Constructora Terminal Valle de México (CTVM), comprised CICSA (owned by Carlos Slim), Prodemex (linked to the Vázquez Raña family), ICA, La Peninsular (part of Carlos Hank Rohn’s group), Acciona Infraestructuras, and GIA+A. According to ASF findings from the 2019 Public Accounts Report, there is no documentary evidence justifying the MX$14.22 billion (US$860 million) payment made by the government—through Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México (GACM)—to CTVM as part of a settlement for the project’s cancellation.

The ASF reported that the payment represented 16.8% of the total contract value, even though physical progress on the terminal reached only 3.4%. Although the original termination agreement was set at MX$14.42 billion, CTVM ultimately received MX$14.89 billion after an additional payment concept was included in the final settlement.

The audit also uncovered irregularities in other project-related expenses, including bulk steel purchases totaling MX$1.48 billion (US$86 million).

On July 22, Israel Rodríguez Esquivel, Director of Substantiation A2, ASF, ordered the initiation of the responsibility procedure, summoning CTVM to a hearing under file DGSUB/1662/07/2025. The action followed a report by Jorge Luis Mejía, Director of Investigation and Responsibilities A3, who concluded that CTVM may have committed administrative misconduct after an investigation launched in 2021.

Of the MX$15.7 billion identified by the ASF as potential financial damage, the specific amount under review in this proceeding has not been disclosed. Mejía stated that CTVM violated Article 71 of the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities, which holds private entities accountable for the misuse or misappropriation of public funds, or for failing to justify their allocation.

Violations of this nature are classified as serious and can result in sanctions such as fines of up to twice the amount obtained, compensation for damages to public finances, and disqualification from public contracts for up to ten years.

CTVM filed an injunction (amparo) in response to the ASF’s action, but the case was dismissed on Sept. 30 by federal judge Francisco Javier Rebolledo, who deemed it “manifestly inadmissible.” The consortium has since appealed the ruling before a federal collegiate court.

If the ASF confirms CTVM’s responsibility, the case will be referred to the Federal Administrative Justice Tribunal (TFJA), which is empowered to impose final sanctions.