(CNN Spanish) — A court of justice in El Salvador ordered this Thursday that former President Mauricio Funes (2009-2014) face a trial for special cases of money and asset laundering.
The El Salvador Prosecutor’s Office accuses Funes of receiving a Beechcraft King Air 90 light aircraft from a Guatemalan company, in exchange for favoring it with the award of a construction contract for more than US$ 8 million. According to the indictment, Funes used the aircraft between March 2013 and October 2014 on different trips to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and the United States.
Funes reacted immediately through his Twitter account: “These from the Prosecutor’s Office are not going to stop until they see me in prison, even if they have to resort to false evidence or to qualified witnesses (benefited) who say whatever it takes to incriminate me in exchange for procedural benefits.”
In July 2021, Funes said in a tweet that he traveled on the aforementioned aircraft, although he assured that this did not make him the owner.
The former president has lived in Nicaragua since September 2016 under the figure of political asylum. In July 2019, the Government of Daniel Ortega granted him Nicaraguan nationality.
The former president has not appeared at any procedure and has not named a defense attorney, for which reason he has been declared a fugitive by justice. The hearing against him was possible after the reforms approved by the Legislative Assembly in November 2022 so that the judicial processes would not stop when the defendants are not present and in order to avoid impunity.
The former Salvadoran president faces several criminal proceedings against him in different courts in San Salvador and for which arrest warrants have already been issued. All cases are linked to the alleged use of public funds for destinations other than those established by law. The former Salvadoran president has pleaded not guilty and maintains that the cases are politically motivated.
