GUATEMALA CITY: Two former top Guatemalan cabinet ministers were arrested Saturday on corruption charges stemming from their tenure in the government of jailed ex-president Otto Perez, the Central American country’s attorney general said.
They are alleged to have used their positions to illegally raise money that then was spent on lavish birthday gifts for Perez.
The gifts allegedly included a $3.5 million Bell helicopter, a $260,000 boat, and a seaside home on the Pacific valued at a million dollars.
“The delivery of these luxury goods was intended to please the boss, structured very much in the manner of organized crime,” Attorney General Thelma Aldana said.
She said former interior minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla and former defense minister Manuel Lopez Ambrosio were charged with money laundering and conspiracy after their arrests in Guatemala City.
