Probe urged into Calgary firm's Mexico payments

Probe urged into Calgary firm's Mexico payments

A Calgary-based mining company already embroiled in a Mexican shooting scandal should be investigated for payments it's made to a public official there, a coalition of non-governmental organizations is charging.

Nine groups have signed a letter asking the RCMP to review if payments totalling about $20,000 were made by Blackfire Exploration to the mayor of Chicomuselo to quell local dissent toward the mine.

For its part, Blackfire has offered two explanations for the payments, saying the money was extorted or meant for charitable donations to an annual fair.

The coalition has submitted to police a company spreadsheet that appears to show 14 payments made by Blackfire to the mayor, Julio Cesar Velazquez Calderon, and a letter to the congress of the state of Chiapas in which the company asks the mayor to be removed from office.

The coalition groups -- including Common Frontiers, MiningWatch Canada, the Sierra Club and Council of Canadians -- want the company investigated under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act which came into law in 1999.

Blackfire is already facing accusations it was involved in the shooting of environmental activist Mariano Abarca Roblero late last year. Roblero was speaking out against the mine and called for its closing and told family and friends he was being threatened. He was killed in late November.

Three men were arrested for the shooting and all have ties to a subsidiary of the company. Blackfire's president, Brent Willis, in a December interview, denied the company had any involvement in Roblero's death.

"There is nothing we can do in Canada about that more serious component of this case," said Rick Arnold of Common Frontiers. "But we can, and we are, going forward on the question of illegal payments being made to public officials in another country to seek favour or to seek benefits for Blackfire."

In a letter to the Chiapas congress in June 2009, Blackfire said the company was the victim of extortion by the mayor and made payments of about 10,000 pesos (about $1,000 Cdn) per month. The mayor then sought flights for himself, family and friends, which the company agreed to, according to the letter. But the company decided to stop the "ridiculous propositions" after the mayor asked for Blackfire to set up a sexual affair with a Playboy model.

"Faced with such demands, we decided to grant no more of his requests," the letter reads.

Calls to Blackfire's Calgary office were referred to a company spokesman who would only respond to e-mailed questions.

A statement from spokesman Kyle Bottoms, of Cohn & Wolfe, said the money was meant to fund a local fair.

"In May 2009, Blackfire Exploration Ltd. filed a formal claim to the congress of the State of Chiapas seeking their assistance to determine if a donation of funds to the Chicomuselo Annual Fair had been inappropriately diverted from their intended purpose," said the statement.

Blackfire said the payments comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of Canada and that the company would fully co-operate in any investigation.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Patrick Webb said investigators won't confirm or deny investigations in progress.

The Mexican mine in question remains closed.

smassinon@theherald.canwest.com

By Stephane Mass Inon, Calgary Herald | March 11, 2010