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From Heroism to Scandal: The Transformation of a Soldier into a Corruption Icon

Otto Pérez Molina’s political life has been marked by many events, but two are the most representative: he was in charge of signing the Peace Accords on behalf of the Army and now he is the first Guatemalan president to be convicted by the national justice system on charges of corruption.

His prestige, built on the image of a progressive military man capable of negotiating the end of the country’s extensive civil war, was buried after it was proven that he enriched himself at the expense of the State, which turned him into the icon of the state decomposition of which several officials of the Partido Patriota were accused.

This political group, which he founded, brought him to power with the slogan “iron fist” to deal with the security crisis that the country was going through. However, crime continued during his term and he also failed to fulfill his promise to change the corrupt and clientelist administration model that he claimed existed in the country.

Even on January 14, 2012, when he took office, he stated that his administration was committed to “austerity and transparency.” He also assured that then-Vice President Roxana Baldetti would be in charge of ensuring “transparency” and “internal social auditing,” circumstances that remained just words.

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There was applause on that occasion, including from Thelma Aldana, who was president of the Supreme Court of Justice and would later be appointed by Pérez Molina to take charge of the Public Ministry. From the investigative body, she became one of the ruler’s executioners by promoting investigations against him.

This was done together with the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), an entity whose mandate was extended by the former president for two years in the nation in 2015. The request for an extension was announced on April 23 of that year, just one week after the entity dismantled a customs mafia.

This criminal group was called “La Línea” and it was this investigation, in which the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) collaborated, that led to his fall as president on September 2, 2015, a fact that accelerated after he lost the support of the citizens, the business sector and that of his own political party.

It has been almost 10 years since his collapse. Today, Pérez Molina no longer enjoys good recognition, the Partido Patriota is history, his political career is over and he has been convicted of committing acts of corruption. Although he has two sentences against him, he is free until the rulings are confirmed or revoked in his favor.

The Line

Pérez Molina was in Zacapa delivering food when, on August 21, 2015, the FECI and the CICIG requested that his immunity be removed in order to be investigated for his participation in the La Línea structure. In this regard, the dignitary assured that he would “continue to show his face.”

The case had already shaken her government, because three months earlier it had led to Baldetti’s resignation and that day when they were asking for his immunity to be lifted, the former vice president was arrested for her participation in that criminal group that defrauded the State through customs.

The investigation revealed that the governor was one of the beneficiaries of the bribes received by this structure, which falsified import declarations and collected Q2.5 million in bribes weekly. The scandal generated national discontent that led thousands of citizens to demonstrate to request the resignation of the duo.

Pérez Molina saw his administration being destroyed by the accusations and on September 1 of that year the Congress of the Republic turned its back on him, including the congressmen of the Partido Patriota, who supported the removal of his immunity for his involvement in this judicial case.

It was September 3, 2015, and the president surrendered to justice.

Barely 24 hours later, he resigned from his position as president. At the same time, the High Risk Court “B”, which was headed by Miguel Ángel Gálvez, issued an arrest warrant against him. It was an unprecedented situation. The lawyer Alejandro Maldonado would take over as president, while Pérez Molina sat in the dock.

By then it was September 3, 2015, and the president surrendered to justice. That day he was sent to prison. Seven years later he was found guilty of this case and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. After the verdict was announced, he said he felt “frustrated,” but he paid Q10 million as bail to get out of prison.

The courts will have to confirm or revoke the sentence of the High Risk Court “B”. This will determine whether Pérez Molina returns to prison to serve his sentence or never sets foot in that place where so many of the officials of the extinct orange party paraded.

Co-optation of the State

The former president became a millionaire thanks to a network of corporations, which received gifts given to a criminal structure made up of multiple officials, which profited from irregularly signing state contracts with various businessmen.

According to the investigations, this model was used to make awards at the Santo Tomás de Castilla National Port Company, the Communications and Culture ministries, the National Registry of Persons and the Cadastral Information Registry, to name a few public entities.

The judicial file was revealed on June 2, 2016, and by that date this structure had collected Q500 million from these illegal activities. Due to this scandal, 53 people were brought to justice, including the presidential duo of the Partido Patriota.

Pérez Molina was imprisoned in the Mariscal Zavala prison when the case was presented, in which it was detailed that the former dignitary received ostentatious gifts from his ministers such as a luxurious boat valued at Q2 million, a beach house in Santa Rosa worth US$1 million and a US$3.5 million helicopter.

Otto Pérez Molina at the First High-Risk Criminal Court B, awaiting the start of the trial for the La Línea case. (Photo Prensa Libre: PL Archives)

This was documented at the La Coperacha event. The State Co-optation investigation included another phase called the Quetzal Container Terminal, in which the military was accused of facilitating the delivery of a portion of Puerto Quetzal to Spanish investors, for which he obtained US$4.2 million in bribes.

Several former Pérez Molina officials were not sent to trial for this macro investigation. However, the former president accepted the charges against him and received a second sentence of eight years of commutable prison. In this case, he paid a bail of Q300,000 to enjoy house arrest while the appeals to revalidate or modify his sentence are resolved.

Network of Power, Corruption and Money Laundering

The last case presented by the CICIG did not have the expected results. The Commission and the FECI requested that the former president face a third criminal trial for illicitly associating and receiving bribes from businessman Gustavo Alejos. However, then-judge Erika Aifán decided to close the case due to lack of evidence.

The court file documented that the former private secretary of Álvaro Colom gave him as a gift the luxurious house that Pérez Molina occupied during his presidential term. This is located in zone 15 of the capital and, according to the investigation, Alejos gave it to him with the objective of guaranteeing, assuring and obtaining favors from the former president.

The authorities said that, to hide this bribe, the businessman simulated a lease agreement with the former president, but parts of the lease were falsified. The investigation even revealed that the former dignitary did not pay monthly payments, because he had remodeled the property and with that he paid the rent.

Otto Pérez Molina with the head of the MP Thelma Aldana in the first annual management report of the prosecutor, in May 2015. (Photo Prensa Libre: PL Archives)

According to the CICIG and the FECI, these modifications were non-existent. In fact, the investigations explained that Alejos had collected US$7.29 million in bribes from the builder José Maynor Palacios Guerra and part of that money was used to build a house that was rented to Pérez Molina’s daughter.

Other people were involved in the structure, but they were not held criminally responsible for these alleged acts of corruption. Thus, the investigation ruled out the theory that the alleged criminal organization had the objective of taking over the State and extracting resources from private individuals who had public contracts.
The case was filed on August 5, 2019. At the time, the former president described it as “one of the last desperate attempts” by the CICIG, which a month later would close operations in the country. The former president added that it was a judicial file “made in a hurry” and without “any basis.”

Losses

The helicopter that was given to Pérez Molina by his officials, valued at US$3.5 million, was obtained illegally and that is why the Court of Asset Forfeiture ordered that it be transferred to the State. This has been one of the few assets that the former governor has lost since he was arrested in 2015.

The former official was also stripped of his beach mansion in Taxisco, which was illegally purchased for US$1 million by his ministers. There are three boats that he owns that are pending a determination of their origin and a ruling from the aforementioned court.

Likewise, this jurisdictional body has immobilized several of Pérez Molina’s assets, among which is a large property called La Montana, which consists of six farms and is valued at around Q16 million. These lands are located in Zaragoza, Chimaltenango.

The decision on whether two properties located in Mixco will be transferred to the State is also pending: the first is located in zone 8 and the second in zone 10. Lastly, the seizure of 17 bank accounts in quetzales, five in dollars and three on a fixed-term basis has not yet been resolved.

Joe Biden, then Vice President of the United States, with President Otto Pérez Molina during his official visit to Guatemala in March 2015. (Photo Prensa Libre: PL Archives)

“The test was wrong”

The former president’s lawyer, César Calderón, said that the CICIG “appeared” to be right about everything. However, he said that if one analyzes what the files say, things are different. “When one begins to evaluate the evidence in its proper dimension, it turns out that it was wrong,” he added.

Along these lines, the professional mentioned that, in the La Línea case, wiretaps were carried out without judicial authorization, which makes the evidence illegal and expressed that, upon carrying out a legal study, the result is that there is an “extraordinary” number of flaws in the processing of that criminal process.

“The ideal of justice is not like that. Its ideal is one of rules that must be respected by both sides: by the defense and by the prosecuting body. But when the prosecuting body becomes a criminal, who wants a guilty verdict at all costs, it is as spurious and illegitimate as when a criminal commits a crime,” he said.

For this reason, the interviewee mentioned that he hopes that the Second High Risk Chamber will accept the allegations regarding the irregularities in the ruling in the La Línea case, overturn the sentence and resolve the matter. “If one day the trial is repeated, I am sure that I will win,” said Calderón, who suggested to Pérez Molina that he accept the charges in the Cooptación del Estado case to get out of this “problem” and for the former president to be “at ease at home.”

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