Guatemala’s former President Perez Molina ‘took Spanish bribes’

Guatemala’s former president Otto Perez Molina and his vice-president, Roxana Baldetti, took at least $25m in bribes from a Spanish port company, an anti-corruption commission alleges. The firm, TCB, won a contract to operate a new container terminal on Guatemala’s Pacific coast for 25 years. Mr Perez Molina was arrested in September after standing down […]

Guatemala’s former president Otto Perez Molina and his vice-president, Roxana Baldetti, took at least $25m in bribes from a Spanish port company, an anti-corruption commission alleges.
The firm, TCB, won a contract to operate a new container terminal on Guatemala’s Pacific coast for 25 years.
Mr Perez Molina was arrested in September after standing down amid anti-corruption protests.
He is due to appear in court next week. He and Ms Baldetti deny wrongdoing.
Attorney General Thelma Aldana said Mr Perez Molina started the approval process for the $225m project immediately after his election in November 2011. There were no competing bids.
Mr Perez Molina and Ms Baldetti “formed a criminal group”, Ms Aldana added.
She made the announcement alongside the head of the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Ivan Velasquez, who headed the investigation.
The commission was set up in 2006 to help Guatemala reform its justice system and confront criminal gangs that had infiltrated the state.