Paraguay’s Former Senator Arrested on Corruption Charges

Paraguay prosecutor René Fernández charged the former Senator Oscar Gonzalez Daher and the mayor of Luque, and the son of the senator, Oscar Ruben Gonzalez Chaves on Monday on charges of corruption, illicit enrichment, false declarations, and money laundering.

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In the afternoon, Judge Humberto Otazu accepted the charges and ordered the seizure of all assets registered in the name of the accused. Their lawyers asked for alternative punishment to prison but the judge declined the appeal.

According to the country’s laws, a person charged with illicit enrichment is sentenced up to 10 years in prison. As per the law, any sentence that exceeded five years of imprisonment is considered serious crimes and thus the appeal for alternative measures cannot be accepted by Otazú.

Gonzalez Daher and his son were admitted to the Specialized Group. It is an alternative prison for ex-authorities who are imprisoned there due to security issues. Various others coming from institutional positions are held in the same site for the same reason. The prison has a total of 151 inmates, mostly coming from law enforcement backgrounds.

Since his entry in Congress as a deputy in 1998, González Daher has always managed to escape the grip of the law. Numerous cases were filed against him since then but he was never reprimanded.

The first major case against the former senator was brought in 2003 when he was accused of possessing a stolen Mercedes Benz from Brazil but due to the support of his colleagues, he remains unscathed.

Finally, on Tuesday, the accusations against the politician was proven and he was sentenced. The case which brought his downfall is a case of illegal enrichment and tax evasion of his company Prince of Savoy.

The defendant’s lawyer accused the court of not having a proper trial. Cecilia Perez, the lawyer argued that the accusation of illicit enrichment is a "copy and paste" of the report sent by the Seprelad (Money Laundering Prevention Secretariat) and that said report cannot be used as a basis. They will again appeal for alternative measures.