NEW YORK – Alfonso Portillo, the fugitive former president of Guatemala, was charged in the United States on Monday with using foreign banks to launder millions of dollars plundered from charity and government coffers.
Portillo, 58, is accused of “converting the office of the Guatemalan presidency into his personal ATM,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of New York said in a statement.
The disgraced politician already was facing embezzlement charges in his own country. Authorities there on Monday declared him a fugitive after dozens of soldiers and police officers raided five of his properties but didn’t find him.
“He’s being sought because he allegedly embezzled funds from the state and from an aid fund sent by Taiwan for an educational project,” said Judge Belgica Deras.
Portillo’s lawyer, Telesforo Guerra, said his client won’t turn himself in.
“He won’t face a judge and will run away from justice because this is a political process, not a judicial one,” Guerra said.
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