New Charges: Guatemala's Imprisoned Ex-President Allegedly Received Millions in Bribes

Source: Vice News

New Charges: Guatemala's Imprisoned Ex-President Allegedly Received Millions in Bribes

By Jack Guy

May 6, 2016 | 4:30 pm

A Guatemalan Court has charged former president Otto Pérez Molina and his vice president Roxana Baldest with fraud, receiving bribes, and money laundering in a case related to a massive government infrastructure contract.

The charges — revealed on Friday — come eight months after both were also charged in another corruption scandal rooted in a customs scam. That case, known as La Linea, forced Pérez Molina to resign from the presidency last September, following months of street protests.

Investigations into both cases have involved Guatemalan prosecutors and the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, known as CICIG, which is supporting a wider drive against corruption and impunity in the country.

The CICIG was also involved in the Amatitlán case, in which Baldetti is accused of signing a fraudulent contract for what she called "a magic potion" that would clean a badly polluted lake, and which turned out to be salty water.

The new corruption case relates to a $255 million contract awarded to a Barcelona-based company for the construction and operation of a container terminal at the country's biggest port — Puerto Quetzal — on the Pacific coast.

Read more: https://news.vice.com/article/ottoperezmolina-roxanabaldetti-charged-with-fraud-bribes-money-laundering-infrastructure-contract