Couple that justifies that income is part of those accused of laundering $ 12 million. But Prosecutor says husbands contradict each other
Three of the eight members of a Morazán family accused of laundering $ 12 million , they exercised this Friday their material defense in the preliminary hearing that the Third Court of Instruction of San Salvador has held since Thursday, to render accounts on the origin of the fortune, which according to the Prosecutor’s Office have not been able to justify.
María Verónica Rodríguez de Flores and Elías Flores Batres, both spouses and prosecuted in this case, tried yesterday on the second day of the preliminary hearing to justify the legal origin of almost $ 200,000 they made and that are part of the $ 12 million that are at stake in the judicial process
María Verónica said that in 1994 she traveled to the United States, five years after her husband, who traveled to that country since 1989 in search of the American dream.
On the first years, Elías said he worked for an American company As a carpenter specializing in building houses and large buildings, but in 2006, he established his own company with which he not only increased his income but offered employment opportunities for up to eight more people.
Meanwhile, María Verónica said that when she arrived in the United States in 1994, she dedicated herself to caring for children and as a second option to sell tamales, two jobs she did from Monday to Sunday from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. night, that has been his routine in the last 30 years and what explains the origin of his capital.
With their first income, in 2001 the couple bought a home in Chapeltique in San Miguel.
The woman said that in 1999 they obtained her legal residence, which opened more opportunities for her to be subject to bank loans. This is how the couple obtained a bank loan for $ 130,900 to buy a house in the United States that four years later sold at $ 308,000, which left them a profit of $ 176,000.
That money was transferred to three Salvadoran banking agencies on deposit in installments that were renewed every year and with their interests multiplied the capital.
Subsequently they received another bank loan of $ 460,000 to build the mansion in Morazán, in El Salvador and that have all the receipts extended not only by the United States financial system but also by the Treasury Department of that country.
One of his lawyers said that the Prosecutor’s Office has confused the capital movement in the last 30 years of the Flores Batres family. It established that all the term deposits that at least this couple made were different and that they constituted a large sum of money, however, it was the same amount, only with the interest that was renewed year by year.
The Prosecutor’s Office says that everything that the members of this family express will be compared with the documentary evidence that is available and it will be the judge who will assess which is the thesis that deserves the most confidence.
“There are several contradictions and that does not coincide with the test that is already incorporated in the process. What they have justified is the amount they made as a couple. The $ 12 million corresponds to all, ”explained the prosecutor of the case.
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