“Mrs. Regina Cañas is undergoing an abbreviated process. She will be convicted and will also return the money to the state. We are making the stolen return,” prosecutor Raúl Melara said on Twitter.
Regina Cañas, known as “Tia Bubu”, will undergo an abbreviated trial before the Seventh Court of Instruction of San Salvador and will confess her involvement in the corruption of former President Mauricio Funes in exchange for a lesser sentence.
Cañas, who was the second wife of the former fugitive ruler, is charged with the crime of “special cases of money laundering cover-up” by the prosecution.
“Mrs. Regina Cañas is undergoing an abbreviated process. She will be convicted and will also return the money to the state. We are making them return the stolen goods, “prosecutor Raúl Melara wrote on Twitter.
“In the case of Mrs. Regina Cañas, she has appeared through her lawyers in the process, she is obviously a fugitive, I understand that there is a request for an abbreviated process (short trial), which obviously for take into account, it would happen because it is willing to return the amount of money for which it is being prosecuted, “said prosecutor Raul Melara in an interview with the Diari d’Avui in January 2020.
SEE: These are the unjustified funds by Diego Roberto, son of former President Funes
The ex-president’s asylum in Nicaragua allegedly pretended to have received a $ 95,000 loan from Luis Antonio Flores Mancia, but according to the prosecution, there is no record that the gentleman has done banking or handed over the money to Cañas.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Cañas and Funes tried to “give a legal appearance to the funds” used by his son Diego and “thus avoid the consequences at the civil level and especially avoid a criminal investigation.”
Diego Roberto Funes Cañas bought during the presidential term of Funes, eight vehicles and a motorcycle for a total value of $ 154 thousand. Among the vehicles the young man traded were a Hummer van, a BMW and a Lexus. The latter bought it for $ 60,000, according to probity investigations.
Tax sources pointed out in the process that the source of this money to buy the cars is illegal. The now accused and whoever has a national and international arrest warrant, does not “have legal sources of reported income” in this purchase period.