PRESS RELEASE 035
FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL ARRESTED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING
Guatemala, May 24, 2012. This morning, staff of the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Bureau of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) and staff of CICIG were present when the National Civil Police (PNC) arrested Carlos David De León Argueta, former Attorney General and Public Prosecutor (2002-2004), on charges of laundering money or other assets, owing to a large sum of money paid into in his personal account (approximately GTQ1,204,000.00). The money was originally made available to construct housing for families with limited economic resources.
The arrest was made early in the morning at the residence of the former prosecutor, which is located in the San Lázaro district of Zone 15, Guatemala City.
BACKGROUND:
On March 12, 2002, Carlos David De León Argueta acquired a cashier's check, number 339897, from a bank in the amount of GTQ2,000,000.00. The check was presumably funded with money obtained through ill-gotten gains by a group of persons who misappropriated State funds that had been assigned to the construction of the aforementioned housing.
At a later stage, De León Argueta allegedly used the money to make financial transactions with two accounts. Firstly, transfer No. 235821 was made at a bank and paid to "CORPORINE" (Corporación de Inversiones y Negocios de Guatemala [Investment and Business Corporation of Guatemala]) in the amount of US$100,000.00, which at the then exchange rate (GTQ7.96 for US$1.00) was equivalent to GTQ796,000.00. The former official was the Chairman of the Managing Board of said corporation. Second, a financial transaction was made in his favor, whereby he received a deposit for GTQ1,204,000.00 in his personal account, No. 018-444525-0, at the aforementioned bank. He was probably aware that the money came from illicit activity.
René Guillermo Domínguez Ruiz, legal representative of DICONSA (a construction enterprise), was also arrested at the Broken Sound condominium in Zone 10 on the basis of his alleged involvement in the case. Hugo René Cáceres García, owner of a cake shop in Zone 1, was arrested in Zone 1.
CICIG assists with the investigation and analyses the possibility of requesting intervention as a complementary prosecutor in the case.