The Salvadoran Prosecutor’s Office accuses a former minister of laundering more than a million dollars

The prosecution General of The Savior criminally accused General David Munguía Payés, former Minister of Security and Defense, for the alleged laundering of 1.1 million dollars (0.91 million euros at today’s exchange rate) of state funds received under the Government of Mauricio Funes ( 2009-2014).

This was reported this Saturday by the Prosecutor’s Office on its social networks and noted that the charges against Munguía Payés are illicit enrichment and money laundering.

“According to the investigations, Munguía Payés is one of those who received money from the State illegally, during the administration of Mauricio Funes”, he added.

He explained that the former official allegedly received 192,650 dollars irregularly from the “intelligence and espionage sector” and $955,000 as “monthly and Christmas bonuses”.

The former Salvadoran Security Minister was recently sentenced to 18 years in prison for the crimes attributed to him in the framework of a truce between gangs between 2012 and 2014.

After learning of his sentence, the retired military man pointed out that he considered himself a “political condemned” and said that at his trial there was “Many irregularities, one of them is that the accusations of a political nature are materialized with judicial sentences.”

According to the Public Ministry, this truce stipulated favors for these gangs, such as prison benefits for the imprisoned leaders, public investment in the communities under their control, and a reduced presence of the security forces in the neighborhoods dominated by said structures.

Along with Munguía Payés, former President Mauricio Funes (2009-2014) was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The former president is in Nicaragua and was tried in absentia after a penal reform that allows it.

Source: EFE