OAS anti-graft body to probe Honduran scandal dogging president

Source: UK/Reuters

Wed Apr 20, 2016 3:39am BST

OAS anti-graft body to probe Honduran scandal dogging president


An anti-graft mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Honduras said on Tuesday it will investigate a multi-million dollar corruption scandal that has dogged the president of the Central American country, Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Critics of Hernandez staged mass protests last year urging him to resign over his links to the $200-million (£139 million) fraud at the Honduran Institute of Social Security, where companies, some formed by institute officials, overcharged for services.

The OAS Mission to Support the Fight Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH) was announced by Hernandez last September after weeks of demonstrations, though it fell short of what many of his opponents had hoped for.

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Hernandez has admitted his 2013 presidential campaign took about $150,000 from companies involved in the scandal, but said he and his party were unaware of where the money came from.


Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-honduras-corruption-idUKKCN0XH06D?rpc=401