Guatemalan ex-president, Vice-President jailed in graft case

Former Guatemalan President Otto Perez MolinaPerez Molina leaves the courtroom after being found guilty of a corruption case during his administration, at the judicial building in Guatemala City, Guatemala on December 7, 2022. LUIS ECHEVERRIA REUTERS GUATEMALA CITY A Guatemalan court sentenced both former President Otto Perez and his vice-president Roxana Baldetti to 16 years in prison each in a graft case years after explosive corruption revelations forced the two out of office early and into prison.

The pair were found guilty of illicit association and customs fraud, but were acquitted of charges of illicit enrichment.

Perez, who was president of Guatemala from 2012 to 2015, has spent the last seven years in prison awaiting a verdict in the case. Baldetti was sentenced in 2018 to more than 15 years in prison in a separate fraud case.

Perez, a 72-year-old retired general who promised to crack down on crime, was forced to resign with just four months left in his term due to protests over corruption scandals.

Perez told reporters that all that's left is to appeal because he felt cheated because the conviction was made without a shred of proof. ALSO READ: Argentina VP Kirchner given 6 year jail term in graft case.

Perez and Baldetti were accused of leading a customs fraud network that stole $3.5 million in state funds during their administration, with both Perez and Baldetti accused of receiving hefty cuts.

Investigators had charged that the two led a scheme in which importers paid bribes to avoid customs duties. More than two dozen others have been charged in the case.

Perez was ordered to pay 8.7 million quetzales $1.10 million, and Baldetti was fined 8.4 million quetzales $1.06 million on Wednesday.

The case, known as La Linea, was originally investigated under the now-defunct International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala CICIG backed by the United Nations.

In 2018, Guatemala expelled the head of the CICIG, Colombian Ivan Velasquez, after his repeated attempts to investigate then-President Jimmy Morales and after jailing dozens of politicians and businessmen.

Morales let the mandate authorizing the CICIG's operations expire next year, shutting down the commission. In 2021, Guatemalan investigators began to target judges, prosecutors and journalists for having collaborated with the CICIG, forcing many into exile.

Since then, several of those implicated in corruption cases investigated by the CICIG have been freed and the findings of the CICIG have been annulled. This year, Velasquez became the defense minister of Colombia.