WASHINGTON, May 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A former cabinet minister in the Bolivian interim government of ex-president Jeanine Anez was arrested in the United states on bribery and money laundering charges, the US Department of Justice said.
Former interior minister Arturo Murillo, 57, his ex-chief of staff Sergio Mendez, and three US businessmen were arrested on May 21 and 22 in Florida and Georgia, the Justice Department said.
According to the indictment the Bolivians are accused “of receiving bribes paid by a US company and individuals to secure a Bolivian government contract, and then using the US financial system to launder those bribes.”
The Americans allegedly paid US$602,000 in bribes to the Bolivians between November 2019 and April 2020 in exchange for a US$5.6 million contract to purchase gas masks.
The five men are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison.
Murillo is also wanted in Bolivia on sedition charges for his role in Anez’s interim administration.
Anez came to power in November 2019 after then-president Evo Morales and several senior allies in his Movement for Socialism (MAS) party resigned amid widespread protests over his controversial reelection.
As Morales fled into exile, Anez, the most senior parliamentarian left, was swept into the presidency in what the leftist government described as a coup.
The MAS was re-elected to power last year, and now controls the presidency and congress – and Anez and other ex-officials were arrested in March over the alleged coup attempt.
Murillo left Bolivia ahead of his arrest warrant.
In late March US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington is “deeply concerned by growing signs of anti-democratic behaviour” in Bolivia and urged La Paz to release Anez. — NNN-AGENCIES
