The fugitive received together with “Mecafé” the aircraft in exchange for the contract of the San Isidro bridge, over the river Lempa.
Former President Mauricio Funes accumulated the seventh arrest warrant yesterday, this time, the Attorney General’s Office charges him with a new case of alleged corruption when he received a plane from a Guatemalan businessman in exchange for giving him the millionaire contract to the construction of the Sant Isidre bridge over the river Lempa.
Attorney General Raúl Melara has reported on the new arrest warrant via Twitter against Funes, a fugitive from justice and asylum seeker by Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua.
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In addition to Funes, arrest warrants were issued against the friend of former governor José Miguel Antonio Menéndez Avelar (Mecafé) and the legal representative of the Guatemalan company Serveis Qualificats de la Construcción, SA (SERDELCO SA) Jaume Ramon Aparicio Mejía , of Guatemalan origin.
Aparicio has also been involved in acts of corruption in Guatemala, he was extradited from Argentina where he was handling another network of alleged bribes within the criminal case “Construction and Corruption”.
The Attorney General’s Office noted that Funes is accused of a new act of corruption in the award of the bridge construction project “Construction of San Isidro Bridge over Lempa River (kilometer 75.5 LIB31N) La Libertad-Chalatenango”, a process that began in March 2013 the Ministry of Public Works.
Funes reacted on his Twitter account and denied the tax reports. “That I own a King Air plane which according to the FGR was handed over by the employer in payment to grant him the construction of a bridge. If he has none of that, the imputation is no more than vulgar chambre or a smokescreen to favor the Bukele government, ”he tweeted.
According to the investigation, the construction of the bridge was considered by this ministry “of great relevance” to provide a better road flow in the South West Zone with the North Zone of the country, as it would connect the municipality of San Pablo Tacachico, department of the Freedom with the New Conception, in Chalatenango. The contract for the bridge was $ 8,487,716.94.
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Similarly, the tax investigation determined that Aparicio Mejía handed over to Funes Cartagena and Menéndez Avelar “as do the aircraft with records -Beechcraft King Air 90- TG ADL- in order to be favored with the award of the contract.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, it was proved that the use and possession of the plane by Messrs. Funes Cartagena and Menéndez Avelar was shared, as the gift was for both of them, who between 2013 and 2016, they used it for family trips to the United States, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras and even rented it at $ 1,300.00 an hour.
The Specialized Unit Against Money Laundering confirmed that in the new process the following crimes will be attributed to Funes and Menéndez Avelar: special cases of money laundering and asset laundering; while active bribery for Guatemalan Aparicio Mejia.
Funes allegedly used the aircraft on 16 flights with six destinations in the United States, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, between March 28, 2013 and October 31, 2014. While Mecafé, it would have made on 47 flights with seven destinations: El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica and the United States, from June 27, 2013 to September 13, 2016.