Guatemala’s Former Economics Minister Pleads Guilty to Paying Bribes

A former high-ranking government official in Guatemala has pleaded guilty in Miami federal court to conspiring to commit money laundering while paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Guatemalan politicians through the U.S. banking system.

Acisclo Valladares Urruela, the former economics minister in Guatemala, admitted that he transferred $350,000 in bribery payments to the unidentified Guatemalan politicians through two companies with bank accounts in Miami, according to a factual statement filed with his plea agreement. Valladares also acknowledged that he received $140,000 for moving the dirty money into those accounts, the statement says.

Valladares paid the illegal bribes on behalf of a telecommunications company known as Tigo, for which he worked as a corporate officer. As a result of the payoffs, Guatemalan politicians passed a law that paved the way for the telecommunications company to obtain a series of lucrative government contracts in Guatemala, according to court records. The corrupt dealings allowed Valladares to benefit personally and politically, U.S. authorities said.

Valladares, who was also an attorney in Guatemala, did not act alone, according to the factual statement filed with his plea agreement. Starting in 2014, before Valladares became Guatemala’s economics minister, “senior executives” at the telecommunications company “directed” him “to obtain cash to be used for the benefit of” his employer, which the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald have learned is Tigo.

“To carry out the executives’ instructions, [Valladares] agreed with others to engage in a series of transactions that benefited [Tigo] and that involved both Guatemalan and U.S. financial institutions,” the statement says.

Although he is not mentioned by name in any court records, Tigo’s president is Mario Lopez Estrada, a civil engineer who is known as Guatemala’s first billionaire.

The reason federal prosecutors were able to make the criminal case against Valladares is that some of the tainted money from the corruption activity was wired in late 2017 through the two Miami companies’ accounts and then back to Guatemalan politicians, according to court records. Prosecutors and the FBI were able to make the money-laundering case against the former government minister because they obtained critical assistance from co-conspirators in the investigation, which was called “Operation Black Mass.”

Valladares, 46, who was taken into custody and then granted bail in 2020, faces 4-5 years in prison at his sentencing, according to his plea agreement. He also must pay a penalty of $140,000 to the U.S. government and could be fined up to $500,000.

Article Credit: https://fcced.com/guatemalas-ex-economics-minister-pleads-guilty-2572022/