The former vice-president of
Guatemala, Roxana Baldetti, has been arrested on corruption charges
three months after she was forced to leave office.
Roxana Baldetti is accused of taking part in a customs agency bribery scheme.
Roxana Baldetti was arrested in hospital in Guatemala City after being admitted with an unspecified health issue
Roxana Baldetti 's arrest came one day after investigators searched her home for evidence in the multi-million-dollar fraud case. The judge in the case had already ordered her bank accounts frozen and slapped injunctions on 11 properties belonging to her and her husband.
Roxana Baldetti had resigned in May 2015 following revelations of massive corruption and fraud in the country’s customs agency. The alleged ringleader of the fraud case was Baldetti’s private secretary, Juan Carlos Monzón, who is a fugitive from justice.
The investigation, launched in May last year, was based on some 66,000 wire-tapped phone calls that uncovered a scheme dubbed “La Línea” (The Line), named for the hotline used by businesses to contact the corrupt network of customs officers.
Guatemalan investigators said Friday morning August 21,2015 that they’ve collected ample evidence linking former Vice President Roxana Baldetti, 53, to a massive fraud ring and that President Otto Pérez Molina was also likely involved.
People demonstrate in demand of the resignation of Guatemalan President Otto Perez in Guatemala City
At a news conference, Iván Velásquez, head of the U.N. International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), detailed the structure of the crime ring, putting Pérez Molina at the head. CICIG and the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s Office are jointly investigating the case
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