Mexican mayoral candidate admits he stole money

City, June 10: Mexican politician Hilario Ramirez acknowledged in the heat of campaigning that when he served as mayor of San Blas he stole just "a little" bit of

. "I've been criticised because they say I like money, but who doesn't, everybody does," Ramirez, who is running for mayor, said in a campaign video posted on YouTube.

"If I stole, it was only a little because it's pretty poor, I gave it a little shave, nothing more than a little shave," the independent mayoral candidate said.

"But what I stole with this hand, with the other hand I gave it to the poor," the politician said.

Ramirez said he liked to work and enjoyed "helping the people" of San Blas, which is in the western state of Nayarit. The politician, who was elected mayor of San Blas in 2008 while a member of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, was accused of taking 20 million pesos ($1.5 million).

Residents of Nayarit will head to the polls July 6 to elect state legislators and the mayors of 20 municipalities.

IANS