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News > Latin America

Guatemala President's Son & Brother Barred from Leaving Country

  • President Jimmy Morales and First Lady speak about their delicate family situation in a video released by the presidency

    President Jimmy Morales and First Lady speak about their delicate family situation in a video released by the presidency | Photo: Presidency

Published 16 September 2016
Opinion

Former comedian Jimmy Morales became president last year after running on an anti-corruption platform.

A criminal court on Friday barred President Jimmy Morales's older son, José Manuel Morales Marroquín, and his uncle, Samuel Morales Cabrera, from leaving the country at the request of the Public Ministry, which suspects them of being involved in a corruption scandal.

IN DEPTH:
Guatemala: New President, Old Problems

According to the ongoing investigation, run by the International Commission on Corruption in Guatemala, CICIG, and Guatemala's Public Ministry, Morales' son asked his uncle to provide him with bills that would help him justify the purchase of 564 Christmas breakfasts in 2013, for an amount of about US$19,000.

On Sept. 1, the head of the governmental institution that payed the allegedly fraudulent bill, the Real Estate Public Registry's Anabella de Leon, was arrested.

“The Public Ministry and the CICIG are currently investigating and doing the necessary checks to determine the level of criminal responsibility of these people and others,” said the joint statement, issued two hours after President Morales commented on the case in a video earlier on Tuesday.

The investigation found that one of the fundraisers of the governing party and Central American lawmaker Othmar Sanchez Herrera could be involved in the case.

President Morales did not comment this time. In a video released Tuesday, however, he promised that he would not interfere with the justice system and let the investigation run its course.

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