GUATEMALA CITY, (Reuters) – Guatemalan police arrested former Presi-dent Alfonso Portillo yesterday after the United States requested his extradition to face money- laundering charges.
A federal grand jury in New York has indicted Portillo, alleging he embezzled millions of dollars of public funds during his 2000-2004 term and laundered them through U.S. and Guatemalan banks.
Authorities found the former president at a farmhouse in eastern Guatemala after searching for him for several days, Attorney General Amilcar Velasquez told Guatemalan radio.
Portillo’s lawyers say he is innocent.
“Obviously from what we’ve heard from the defense, they’re going to use all the legal means to prevent an extradition,” Velasquez said.
Portillo, who also faces corruption charges in Guate-mala, won office promising to redistribute wealth, but fled to Mexico when his term ended.
He was extradited to Guatemala in 2008 and was free on bail when Washington made its extradition request earlier this month.
Portillo is accused in the U.S. indictment of diverting $1.5 million of donations by the Taiwanese government from a program called “Libraries for Peace” to accounts controlled by friends and family.
The indictment also alleges Portillo embezzled at least $3.9 million from the Guatemalan Defense Ministry that was laundered through the national mortgage bank Credito Hipotecario Nacional and through a Guatemalan company called Confia.