The Guatemalan Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation into alleged bribes that President Alejandro Giammattei received from Russian businessmen.
The spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office, Juan Luis Pantaleón, said on Friday that it was decided to open the investigation after reports from some media about the alleged bribes.
Former anti-corruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval, dismissed a few weeks ago by the Attorney General’s Office itself, has said that he himself was investigating these allegations and that this would have been one of the reasons why he was removed from his post a few weeks ago.
“There is an investigation regarding the issue on information released in interviews and media publications,” said Pantaleón, who added that he refers to reports that a person linked to a Russian businessman had given money to Giammattei inside a carpet.
The AP requested a position from the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency and they limited themselves to saying that they would not comment on the matter.
Alexander Vasiayev would be the Russian who was in Guatemala and allegedly gave the money to the president to receive a concession from the Santo Tomás de Castilla port, located in the department of Izabal, on the border with Honduras. Apparently Alexsei Pribytkov, Sergei Kuvaev, Alexandr Solop and the Israeli Julian Shocron were also part of the group of visitors. They would have arrived in the country in April and, according to a testimony, on the 29th of that month they allegedly delivered the money to Giammatei’s property. It is believed that on May 2 they left Guatemala.
The names of the Russians were made public after a summons by the opposition deputies of the National Unity of Hope party that occurred on August 30 with officials from the Santo Tomás de Castilla port.
This is the first investigation against Giammattei in 19 months of his rule.
Sandoval has not released the names of the people allegedly involved or mentioned them in interviews.
Pantaleón said that the case will be handled by the Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity, which Sandoval headed until July 23. His departure provoked criticism from international organizations and governments and even led the United States authorities to reduce their cooperation with the Central American country.
On September 2, Sandoval said that Attorney General Consuelo Porras intervened in his office when she learned of the investigation against the president. The former prosecutor said that part of the investigation had to do with a testimony that indicated that the president received funds from businessmen with an interest in controlling port operations.
The announcement of the investigation against Giammattei occurs hours after a Guatemalan court issued an arrest warrant against former prosecutor Sandoval, for the crimes of obstruction of criminal action and breach of duties.
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