INTERNATIONAL ARREST IN FRAIJANES II CASE

Guatemala, May 10, 2012. This morning, in Costa Rica, the Costa Rican authorities, acting together with the Attorney General of the Republic of Guatemala and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), arrested Juan Diego Lainfiesta Cajas for extradition. Lainfiesta Cajas is accused, in the Fraijanes II case, of conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering.

Lainfiesta Cajas has absconded from Guatemalan justice since September 22, 2011, and an international arrest warrant was issued—at the behest of the Special Anti-impunity Prosecutor's Bureau (FECI) of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) and CICIG—so to arrest and then extradite Cajas to Guatemala. With the help of INTERPOL, Cajas was located in Costa Rica; therefore, international legal assistance was requested from the Office of the Attorney General in Costa Rica.

Furthermore, it was requested that other steps be taken so as to obtain relevant and useful evidence for the investigation.

Background facts
The Fraijanes II proceeding began in 2010 with the signing of an agreement between former Minister of the Interior Salvador Gándara Gaitán and the NGO Fundtech, which hired the services of a company linked to the Lainfiesta group. At a later stage, the contract was renewed and expanded by former minister Raúl Velázquez Ramos. The Office of the Comptroller General revealed that there had been irregularities in the hiring processes and in the execution of the project, as well as in the conduct of Fundtech and then officials (2009) of the Ministry of the Interior.

The investigation established that the company hired by Juan Diego Lainfiesta Cajas and his cousin, Rodrigo Lainfiesta Rímola (released on bail), was used as a facade. Both parties are accused of profiting from a contract worth GTQ17.4 million, which was allocated to the refurbishment of the Fraijanes II Prison.

Under this case, former minister Gándara Gaitán is being tried and is remanded in custody facing charges of extortion, fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion. Velázquez Ramos is being tried and is remanded in custody on charges of abuse of authority and non-compliance of duties.

CICIG acts as a complementary prosecutor in this criminal proceeding.