:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/6QRRE7GX2VCB7KVYFDNZHOCKJQ.jpg "Former Minister of El Salvador faces new criminal proceedings for money laundering")
SAN SALVADOR (AP) — A Salvadoran court resolved Thursday to send former Security Minister General David Munguía Payés to a new criminal trial to be prosecuted for the crimes of money laundering and illicit enrichment for 1.1 million dollars.
The Public Ministry accuses the retired soldier of illegally receiving monthly and Christmas bonuses in the amount of $955,000 and illegally appropriating money from the State coffers, through spending on intelligence and espionage for an amount of 192,650 dollars when he held office in the government of Mauricio Funes from 2009 to 2014.
Before beginning the hearing, in which the presence of journalists was not allowed, Munguía Payés said briefly: “I am not going to give statements, the statements will be given by my lawyers; Right now what I am doing is finding out what the charges are.”
The defense lawyers for General Munguía Payés said that they were prepared to demonstrate the non-existence of the crime that is attributed to his client and that, in any case, the statute of limitations had already expired.
At the end of the hearing, one of the prosecutors in the case told reporters that the judge made an individual assessment of the information that had been provided to him, as well as the arguments of the technical parties, reaching the conclusion that he was confirmed the commission of the crimes.
The events that rewarded General Munguía Payés occurred when he held the positions of Minister of National Defense and later Minister of Security, as part of the cabinet of former President Funes.
Munguía Payés also served as Minister of National Defense in the government of President Salvador Sánchez Cerén (2014-2019), both from the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party.
Funes and Sánchez Cerén are fugitives from Salvadoran justice and have taken refuge in Nicaragua, where the government of President Daniel Ortega granted them Nicaraguan nationality, which prevents them from being extradited to face justice in El Salvador.