A former Mexican ambassador to the United Kingdom has formally accused a network of diplomats and foreign ministry officials of running a corruption scheme that diverted public funds through a fictitious cleaning company — and claims her warnings went unanswered for more than a year.
Josefa González-Blanco Ortiz-Mena, who served as Mexico’s ambassador in London from March 2021 until January 2026, filed an administrative handover report in February accusing former Administrative Attaché Érika Pardo Rodríguez of operating what the document describes as a “power fiefdom” within the embassy. A copy of the report was obtained by Aristegui Noticias.
The Shell Company
At the center of the alleged scheme is a firm called Easy Steps Cleaning Service LTD, which the report identifies as a shell company. According to the filing, the original contract with Easy Steps was signed in January 2021 by then-chargé d’affaires Aureny Aguirre O. Sunza. Over time, payments to the firm totaled approximately £140,950 — roughly MX$4 million (about US$197,000) — but the money appears to have gone elsewhere.
González-Blanco says she and embassy staff personally verified that the bank accounts tied to Easy Steps actually belonged to Pardo Rodríguez and her daughter, spread across four accounts at HSBC, Wise, and Metro Bank. When staff attempted to transfer funds using the company name as the beneficiary, the bank flagged a mismatch. Substituting Pardo Rodríguez’s name resolved the alert.
The alleged fraud didn’t stop there. The report describes doctored utility invoices — a British Gas bill for £26.37 was apparently altered to £2,026.37, with the difference deposited into a personal account. The report also accuses Pardo Rodríguez of using the credentials of former ambassador Aníbal Gómez Toledo — who left the London post in 2019 — to authorize transactions through at least late 2024, years after his departure.
A visa sponsorship certificate was also issued in November 2024 to a person with no employment relationship to the embassy. British authorities confirmed the sponsorship, raising concerns about a possible immigration violation on top of the financial misconduct.
A Year of Warnings
González-Blanco says she began raising the alarm in December 2024 and followed up with formal audit requests in January 2025. Over the course of her effort to have Pardo Rodríguez removed, she sent more than 40 official communications and made two separate trips to Mexico City. Former Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente, she states in the report, refused to meet with her on three occasions.
The Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE), Mexico’s foreign ministry, tells a different story. The ministry says its deputy secretary and finance chief did meet with González-Blanco, which led to a supervisory visit in June 2025 and a formal audit that same month. The SRE says that audit is still being reviewed and that administrative processes will follow as warranted.
What is not disputed is the timeline: Pardo Rodríguez did not leave her post until Aug. 1, 2025, months after the initial complaints. González-Blanco argues the delay amounted to institutional cover.
A financial and compliance audit conducted between 2021 and 2025 identified 74 control actions — 46 corrective and 28 preventive. As of the embassy handover in January 2026, 31 remained unresolved.
A Complicated Exit
The ambassador’s own departure was not without controversy. El País reported that González-Blanco faced 16 workplace harassment complaints from embassy staff, with multiple resignations dating to late 2022. The SRE noted that six formal complaints were filed against her between June 2024 and January 2025.
González-Blanco, for her part, argues the harassment allegations were a retaliation strategy by those she had accused of corruption. President Claudia Sheinbaum, asked about the case in early 2026, said the ambassador’s conduct had been reviewed and found acceptable.
The former ambassador has been replaced by Alejandro Gertz Manero, former attorney general of Mexico.
At a Glance
- Former Ambassador Josefa González-Blanco Ortiz-Mena served in London from March 2021 to January 2026
- The alleged scheme centered on shell company Easy Steps Cleaning Service LTD
- Estimated funds diverted: £140,950 (roughly MX$4 million / US$197,000
- González-Blanco sent 40+ official warnings; the SRE did not remove the accused official until August 2025
- An internal audit found 74 compliance issues; 31 were unresolved at the time of the ambassador’s departure
- A fraudulent visa sponsorship was confirmed by British authorities
- The former ambassador herself faced 16 workplace harassment complaints filed by staff
- She has been replaced by former Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero
Source: Aristegui Noticias / Grupo Animal