Guatemala's ex-president, Alvaro Colom, was arrested on Tuesday following a larger corruption investigation. Also detained was Juan Alberto Fuentes, a former finance minister who is now chairman of the anti-poverty organization Oxfam International.

Colom, 66, was president of Guatemala from 2008 to 2012. He and several members of his cabinet have now fallen under suspicion for a dubious public transport deal in 2009.

In all, 10 arrests were made over fraud and embezzlement charges for the purchase of hundreds of buses ordered for Guatemala City. Four companies signed 25-year government contracts to operate the TransUrbano transport system, a transaction Colom's National Unity of Hope party tried to exempt from taxes.

More than half of ministers detained

The other suspects compromise nine people from Colom's 13-member cabinet, including the ex-ministers of education, defense, labor, health and the environment, who all signed off on the deal. The arrest of former finance chief Fuentes has placed extra strain on Oxfam, already reeling from sex abuse claims from its mission in Haiti.

The ex-leader was arrested at his home in an upscale neighborhood in the capital. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Colom follows a pattern of corruption charges against Guatemalan leaders. Colom's immediate successor Otto Perez is currently in jail awaiting trial for graft allegations, and the country's country president, Jimmy Morales, is facing claims of illicit campaign financing and attempting to expel a UN-backed prosecutor trying to put him on trial for fraud.

es/kms (AFP, Reuters) </s> Prosecutors in Guatemala have detained ex-president Alvaro Colom and almost his entire former cabinet in a corruption case involving a bus contract.

Prosecutors in Guatemala have detained ex-president Alvaro Colom and almost his entire former cabinet in a corruption case involving a bus contract.

Colom, who governed from 2008 to 2012, is the latest in a series of former presidents to face legal problems.

He was recently named by the Organisation of American States as an envoy to Honduras, in a bid to help sort out disputed elections there. Special prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval, who said Colom was arrested on Tuesday, is looking into the questionable purchases of public buses for Guatemala City.

Mr Sandoval said the detentions included the ex-interior minister and the former ministers of finance, defence, economy, education, labour, environment, health and sports and culture. The case centres around a public bus company known as Transurbano.

The government auctioned off 25-year concessions for Guatemala City bus routes and the private companies that won the contracts were later exempted from taxes. Prosecutors say the process was deeply flawed and included subsidies and other measures that benefited public servants.

A customs fraud scandal that allegedly sent kickbacks to then-president Otto Perez Molina and vice president Roxana Baldetti led both to resign in 2015. They have been jailed awaiting trial but more than 100 defence filings have delayed the trial.

Alfonso Portillo, Guatemala’s president from 2000 to 2004, was extradited to the US and pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy in 2014.

He admitted accepting $2.5 million in bribes from the government of Taiwan to continue to recognise the Asian nation diplomatically. </s> Guatemala’s fight against corruption has intensified with the arrest of a former president and nine of his ex-ministers.

Alvaro Colom and members of his former cabinet are suspected of having embezzled funds and committed fraud while helping set up a public bus system in Guatemala City in 2010.

Ivan Velasquez, head of Guatemala’s international commission against impunity (CICIG), said on Tuesday: “[Colom] intervened personally and institutionally to facilitate the fraudulent procedure of creating the agreement.”

Prosecutors said there are questions around how the government auctioned off concessions and granted subsidies for the buses.

The current chairman of Oxfam International and former Guatemalan finance minister Juan Alberto Fuentes was among those arrested.

Fuentes detention comes as Oxfam is already reeling from a sexual abuse scandal in Haiti and elsewhere.

Guatemala is no stranger to corruption scandals. Over the past decade, international investigators have been working with local prosecutors to peel back the layers of corruption that plague the small Central American country.

He is now on trial, accused of stealing millions of dollars from the country’s customs offices.

Current president, Jimmy Morales, tried to kick out Velasquez after he pushed to remove Morales’ immunity to face prosecution in another corruption investigation.

Analysts say these political arrests are far from over.

“I think the CICIG and the Attorney General’s office are just scratching the surface of this issue,” said Arturo Matute of the International Crisis Group.

“Without a doubt there are many more investigations under way which will take years to uncover.”

The upcoming selection of a new attorney general will be pivotal if these investigations are to continue.

Experts say Guatemalans need to be vigilant to ensure the country’s next top prosecutor has their interests at heart, and not those of the political elite. </s> Former Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom was arrested Tuesday in connection with the Transurbano corruption case, officials said.

Colom was expected to visit Honduras this week as a special OAS representative to direct discussions between its government, led by Juan Orlando Hernandez, and the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH).

The Attorney General's Office and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) on Tuesday carried out 14 raids to capture a number of individuals, including members of the former president's Cabinet.

Up to now, authorities have confirmed the arrest of former Ministers Juan Alberto Fuentes Knight (Finance), Salvador Gandara Gaitan (President's Office), Ana Francisca del Rosario Ordoñez (Education), Abraham Valenzuela (Defense), Edgar Alfredo Rodriguez (Labor), Oscar Velasquez (Economy), Celso David Cerezo Mulet (Health), Geronimo Lancerio Chingo (Culture) and Luis Alberto Ferrate (Environment).

The Transurbano is a public transport organization in Guatemala City run by the Guatemalan Integrated Bus System and promoted by the Guatemalan government during the 2008-2012 Colom administration, and by the Urban Bus Entrepreneurs Association. Travel is paid with a charge card.

The authorities have not yet provided further details about the case, nor the specific crimes those under arrest are accused of committing.

A typical case is Fuentes Knight, the president of Oxfam International, who is accused of taking part in the Transurbano corruption scheme when he was finance minister during the Alvaro Colom government. The Transurbano was a model of urban transport implemented during the administration of Colom's National Unity of Hope (UNE) party.

Upon arriving at court, Fuentes Knight said that when he left office he asked for an investigation into the supposed "anomalies" that began to appear, associated with the company operating the transport service.

"When I resigned, I asked for an investigation and that no further funds be forwarded to Transurbano. Naturally, the Comptroller's Office had no information on the matter," something Fuentes Knight said he didn't report because he himself didn't have sufficient information at the time. </s> Roxana Baldetti was found guilty of fraud for involvement in a bogus multimillion-dollar scheme to clean up a contaminated lake

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Guatemala’s former vice-president Roxana Baldetti has been jailed for more than 15 years on corruption charges linked to a multimillion-dollar fraud over a bogus scheme to clean up a contaminated lake, thanks to an investigation backed by the UN crime fighting force.

Public prosecutors backed by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) uncovered a criminal network run by Baldetti which conspired to award an $18m government contract to an Israeli company for a clean-up potion that turned out to be sea water.

Alarm as Guatemala bans head of UN anti-corruption body from country Read more

Tuesday’s verdict was hailed by anti-impunity campaigners battling to save the commission from expulsion by the current president who is fighting impeachment arising from multiple corruption allegations.

President Jimmy Morales argues that his decision to end the commission’s mandate next September was not personally motivated, and used a speech at the UN last month to claim Cicig was a threat to peace.

Morales, who was elected in 2015 on an anti-corruption platform, is facing charges of illegal campaign financing and fraud thanks to investigations backed by Cicig. His brother, son and political party also face corruption charges.

The standoff between the beleaguered president and popular anti-impunity commission has escalated in recent months. Morales has blocked the Cicig chief, Iván Velásquez, from re-entering Guatemala in defiance of court orders ruling the ban unconstitutional.

Velásquez welcomed Baldetti’s verdict on Twitter: “The fight against corruption and impunity IS possible!”

Baldetti, a former beauty queen, was forced to resign in 2015 after a separate Cicig-backed corruption investigation triggered a social uprising and brought down the government of President Otto Pérez Molina, who remains in Mariscal jail awaiting trial.

Cicig does not make arrests or directly prosecute cases – but its joint investigations with local prosecutors have helped uncover 60 criminal networks and bring charges against 680 people including four former presidents, military officers, judges, drug traffickers and entrepreneurs.

'Our Central American spring': protesters demand an end to decades of corruption Read more

Baldetti, 56, is the highest-ranking politician to be sentenced so far. She was sentenced to 15 years and six months by the high risk court in Guatemala City after the judge ruled that she was the “big chief” of the scam and found her guilty of fraud, illicit association and peddling influence.

Prosecutors said that she conspired to grant an $18m contract to the Israel-based company M Tarcic Engineering Ltd, which claimed it could clean up Lake Amatitlán, a popular weekend spot for wealthy Guatemalans which had been contaminated by huge quantities of sewage from the capital.

The company said it would clean the lake within months, but investigators found that the substance they used was merely saltwater and chlorine.

Nine others were jailed, including Baldetti’s brother Mario, who acted as the intermediary between the company and the government. The case had suffered repeated delays thanks to multiple injunctions and appeals filed by the defendants’ lawyers in a phenomenon condemned by international legal experts as “malicious litigation”.

Baldetti faces multiple corruption charges in three other major Cicig-backed cases, which suggest powerful networks involving political, economic, military and criminal elites had infiltrated institutions across the government for financial gain.

Baldetti also faces cocaine trafficking charges in the United States, but cannot be extradited until after serving her sentences at home.

Gabriel Wer, co-founder of the #JusticiaYa social and political movement which led the mass protests in 2015, said: “Ex-vice-president Baldetti has been sentenced for swindling millions from the state. This is a historic ruling, which would not have been possible without Cicig.” </s> (New York) – President Jimmy Morales’s decision to end the mandate of a UN-backed investigative body is a major blow to efforts to fight corruption, abuse, and impunity in Guatemala, Human Rights Watch said today.

On August 31, 2018, Morales announced that he would not request an extension of the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which expires in September 2019. CICIG is investigating allegations that Morales’s presidential campaign received illegal funding and is participating in the prosecution of his son and brother on fraud charges. Morales made the announcement flanked by dozens of top military officials, shortly after 12 military jeeps were stationed in front of the CICIG’s office in Guatemala City.

If anyone still had any doubts about which side Morales was on, today he made it crystal clear he’s cast his lot with the forces of corruption and impunity.

“President Morales has been working for more than year to shield himself and his family from justice,” said Daniel Wilkinson, Americas managing director at Human Rights Watch. “He is now pulling the plug on the UN-sponsored commission responsible for the investigations.”

Since CICIG began investigating Morales for possible corruption, the president has waged a relentless campaign to undermine its work, Human Rights Watch said.

In August 2017, Morales ordered the expulsion of CICIG Commissioner Iván Velásquez, days after CICIG and the Guatemalan attorney general announced they were investigating Morales for illicit campaign financing. Guatemala’s Constitutional Court blocked the expulsion. On August 10, 2018, CICIG and the attorney general presented a request to Congress to strip Morales of his immunity from prosecution.

CICIG is one of the most effective anti-corruption mechanisms in Latin America today, Human Rights Watch said. Since it began operation in 2007, Guatemala has made unprecedented progress in promoting justice for corruption and abuse of power. It has obtained the indictments of four former presidents, and of more than a dozen former ministers and even more ex-congressmen on corruption charges. CICIG’s investigations have also led to the conviction of at least 58 people involved in six different drug cases.

In an August 31 letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Morales wrote that CICIG should focus its remaining time on transferring “technical skills” to local institutions. Given CICIG’s extensive caseload and chronic delays in the Guatemalan courts, it is extremely unlikely this and other major cases will be resolved within a year.

“If anyone still had any doubts about which side Morales was on, today he made it crystal clear he’s cast his lot with the forces of corruption and impunity,” Wilkinson said. “When the commission is gone, the vital but precarious progress Guatemala has made in strengthening the rule of law will stall and very likely start to unravel.” </s> GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan prosecutors have launched an investigation into a presidential candidate, six lawmakers and a cabinet minister on suspicion of corruption, the U.N.-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) said late on Monday.

The Guatemalan attorney general’s office and the CICIG said in a joint statement the eight oversaw approval and distribution of bribes worth $7.5 million for 62 deputies between 2012-2015 during the administration of former President Otto Perez.

Perez and his former vice president Roxana Baldetti are now in prison and being tried on corruption charges. Both, who are members of the conservative Patriot Party, deny any wrongdoing.

All eight people under investigation belonged to the Patriot Party in the last administration. The presidential candidate, Estuardo Galdamez, is now seeking the job for President Jimmy Morales’ conservative National Convergence Front (FCN).

According to the CICIG, bribes were distributed from Baldetti’s office to trusted Patriot Party deputies and were used to secure approval of certain laws and judicial appointments.

Galdamez on Tuesday posted a statement on Twitter from the FCN rejecting the accusations made against him.

The CICIG and the attorney general’s office are also investigating Economy Minister Acisclo Valladares on suspicion of money laundering and other crimes as part of the probe.

Valladares did not reply to a request for comment. The lawmakers accused by the CICIG could either not be reached for comment or rejected the allegations in local media.

CICIG investigations led to the downfall of Perez in 2015 and the anti-graft body also went after Morales, alleging he broke campaign finance rules during his presidential run. But it failed to secure enough votes in Congress to impeach him.

Morales accused the CICIG of abusing its power and refused to renew its mandate, which will end in September.

Guatemala holds a general election in June. Last month, one presidential candidate was arrested in the United States, accused of making deals with the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico. </s> Former Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom was arrested Tuesday in connection with the Transurbano corruption case, officials said. </s> Guatemala City, Guatemala - The government of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has said it is withdrawing from a UN-backed anti-corruption commission and is giving the body's staff 24 hours to leave the country, in a move that drew criticism from human rights groups and constitutional lawyers.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Morales accused the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, commonly known as CICIG, of polarising the country and putting its security at risk, as well as violating human rights and being allied with criminal structures and "terrorists".

"The State of Guatemala terminates the agreement with CICIG because of the serious violation of national and international laws," Morales said in Guatemala City, adding that his government had waited 16 months for the UN to respond to their complaints.

"The CICIG has put at risk the sovereignty of the people of Guatemala," Morales said, accusing the UN of not "seeking solutions" to alleged violations.

Morales made the comments surrounded by the families of those he asserts are falsely accused by the CICIG, including a Russian family which was prosecuted and sentenced to seven years in prison for using a falsified Guatemalan passport.

Ahead of the press conference, Sandra Jovel, Guatemala's minister of foreign affairs, had informed UN chief Antonio Guterres of the unilateral decision.

"The agreement is finalised," Jovel told reporters. "We hope the secretary-general will respect of sovereignty."

The CICIG was formed in 2006 upon the request of the Guatemalan government to combat high rates of impunity for crimes. It was ratified by the country's legislative branch in 2007 following a massive police scandal.

The commission's 2015 corruption investigation in the administration of Otto Perez Molina led to the resignation of the former president, who is currently facing criminal charges.

Morales utilised an anti-corruption platform in the country's 2015 election, promising voters he was "not corrupt, or a thief". Yet he and his family have faced corruption allegations since taking office in January 2016.

Allies of Morales in the country's Congress led by Estuardo Galdamez, of the FCN-Nacion party, had called on the president to unilaterally repeal the law that formed the body. Many congressional members are currently under investigation for corruption.

In August last year, Morales announced that he would not be renewing the mandate of the anti-impunity body. The president also attempted to declare CICIG head Ivan Velasquez a "persona non-grata" and bar him from the country.

But the country's Constitutional Court in September ruled against the ban on Velasquez, ordering that he must be permitted to re-enter Guatemala. The goverment has remained steadfast in its position, sparking a deepening constitutional crisis.

Earlier on Monday, Stephane Dujarric, UN spokesperson, had urged Guatemala's government to allow the free movement of CICIG staff in the country, as in accordance with the 2006 agreement.

His call came two days after Guatemalan immigration officials denied Yilen Osorio, a Colombian CICIG investigator, entry into the country and detained him upon arrival.

The detention violated a December 21 court order issued by Guatemala's highest court which said the government must allow entry for 11 CICIG investigators whose visas were revoked earlier that month. The government argued that the investigators posed a threat to national security, giving them 72 hours to leave the country.

Osorio was finally permitted to enter the country after being held for some 24 hours following an order by the Constitutional Court.

Oswaldo Samayoa, a Guatemalan constitutional lawyer, said that among those whose visas were removed are the lead investigators of the cases against Morales, his brother and son.

"There is clearly a conflict of interests in the decisions of Morales," Samayoa told Al Jazeera. "It is a form of revenge disguised in the discourse of sovereignty."

Commenting on Guatemala's CICIG withdrawal, Samayoa said Monday's announcement was "disastrous for our country, for our democracy and our fragile institutions".

"All these actions are against the law and constitution," Samayoa added.

"The agreement with the United Nations that formed the CICIG says that only the UN can end the anti-corruption body," explained Samayoa, pointing to articles 11 and 14 of the agreement and citing article 149 of Guatemala's constitution, which upholds the country's commitment to human rights and international accords.

Iduvina Hernandez, director of human rights organisation Security in Democracy, alleged that Morales "is destroying the institutional order".

"These actions are a coup d'etat against the rule of law," Hernandez told Al Jazeera. "This is being carried out by those in government that wish to maintain their privileges."

The president's move was also condemned by Democrats in the United States, including Representative Norma Torres.

"Jimmy Morales' presidency has set the country back years, if not decades," Torres said in a statement.

"Morales had a historic opportunity to give Guatemalans the transparent and effective government that they deserve. Instead, when faced with the prospect of criminal investigation by CICIG and the public ministry, he chose to destroy the rule of law in order to protect himself," Torres wrote.

"He has engaged in a pattern of behaviour that has undermined Guatemala’s justice system and brought the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis."
Former President Alvaro Colom and his entire government cabinet were arrested for their alleged participation in a new corruption case investigated by CICIG and the MP. They were sent to preventive detention at the Mariscal Zavala Military Center.