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TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo is under investigation for suspicion of involvement in the laundering of illegal drugs as part 39, a more thorough investigation of its administration from 2010 to 2014, announced Friday an international mission to fight against corruption.
PHOTO FILE: Former President of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo, holds a press conference at his home, following accusations of embezzlement perpetrated by the National Council against Corruption in Tegucigalpa, in Honduras, February 4, 2019. REUTERS / Jorge Cabrera / Photo File
The anti-corruption unit of the Organization of American States (OAS) said that the investigation into Lobo began after Devis Leonel Rivera, leader of the drug cartel "Los Cachiros", testified before a US court to have donated money for the 2010 elections in Lobo. campaign.
Rivera said that Lobo "suggested to him that in exchange for donations for his political campaign, they create companies that will be awarded contracts once he wins the presidential election," he said. said Luiz Guimaraes, spokesman for the Mission to Support the Fight Against Corruption and Impunity. in Honduras (MACCIH), told reporters.
Lobo said at a press conference at his home in Tegucigalpa that he had never dealt with "these criminals".
"I have never received money from criminals or had a private meeting with them," Lobo said.
The charge was reported when MACCIH said it had opened an investigation into 12 people, including a former minister, Fabio, son of Lobo, and Rivera, suspected of laundering drug money, in a case dubbed "Narcopolitica." By the mission.
Lobo was not part of the 12, but an investigation was underway as part of a wider investigation, said Guimaraes, a Brazilian.
Prosecutors estimate that the money laundered in this case has pbaded through 21 public works contracts for companies created by Los Cachiros with the Ministry of Public Works for an estimated amount of 68.3 million lempiras (2.2 million pounds sterling), according to the indictment.
Most of the work has never been done, noted Guimaraes.
Investigators believe that Fabio Lobo, sentenced in 2017 to a 24-year prison sentence by a federal court for drug trafficking, has ensured that Los Cachiros wins the contracts.
Former Lobo Public Works Minister Miguel Pastor, along with two other officials accused by MACCIH, surrendered to prosecutors on Thursday evening in Tegucigalpa.
Reporting by Gustavo Palencia, edited by G Crosse and Grant McCool
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