Former Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca has found himself in some hot water. The former figurehead has come under fire for criminal accusations that have potential to ruin his reputation, if not already.
According to FOX News Latino, Former Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca was charged on Tuesday with embezzlement, conspiracy and money laundering. The crimes allegedly committed were responsible for directing $245million from the public coffers to private accounts during his tenure in office.
The site reports that Saca has been held in police custody since Sunday morning and on Tuesday was transferred to the Isidro Menendez Judicial Center in the capital under tight security.
The court is currently deciding if the former leader will be deemed prosecutable or exempt from the prosecution. Having served from 2004-2009, the former president did not act alone in these alleged crimes.
His former private secretary Elmer Charalaix, along with his erstwhile communications and youth ministers, Julio Rank and Cesar Funes have also been taken into custody.
If Saca moves to the next judicial phase, the court will have to establish whether or not the former leader, long with the ARENA party, will be released pending trial or whether he will be kept under house arrest or in preventive custody.
Saca’s close collaborators Pablo Gomez, Francisco Rodriguez Arteaga and Jorge Alberto Herrera were also arrested this weekend.
According to Attorney General Douglas Melendez, these people operated a network within the President’s Office that moved the embezzled funds to 14 personal bank accounts belonging to Charlaix, Rodriguez and Gomez, from which 104 million euros was later withdrawn in cash.
Attorney General Melendez also revealed at a press conference that the investigation into the matter had determined that at least Saca and Charlaix laundered 5.4 million euros.
This story is developing.
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