Saturday, March 26, 2005
Alfredo Moreno Molina
Clandestine Powers: The case of the Moreno network clearly illustrates the reach of the hidden powers in Guatemala – their illicit activities, insidious linkages and structure. A vast array of military and government officials – some retired and some current office holders – were involved in the Moreno network.
1970s: Salvadoran-born Alfredo Moreno Molina was assigned by the Guatemalan military to work with counter-insurgency efforts within Customs. Over time he built and oversaw an illegal network involvingpersonnel at different border crossing points.
1989: Within the Moreno network a smaller, more exclusive group was formed that called itself the Grupo Salvavidas or “Lifesaver Group.” The Salvavidas was an effort to intentionally put together a powerful network of men with influence in and connections to all spheres of public and politicallife in the country. Other key members included Justice of the Peace Osmundo Waldimir Villatoro Escobar, Judge Rolando Sagastume and Col. Jacobo Esdras Salán Sánchez.
14 September 1996: An investigation carried out by Defense Minister Julio Balconi Turcios concluded that Moreno had committed the crimes of tax fraud, falsification or alteration of documents, and illicit enrichment. The evidence implicated numerous high-ranking military officers and high-profile civilians, among them Gen. Luis Francisco Ortega Menaldo, Col. Juan Guillermo Oliva Carrera, Gen. Roberto Eduardo Letona Hora, Maj. Fernández Ligorría, Col. Salán Sánchez, Alfonso Portillo, Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, Col.Napoleón Rojas Méndez, Maj. Byron Barrientos and Mario Guillermo Ruiz Wong.
16 September 1996: Then-presidential contender Alfonso Portillo, candidate of the FRG, admitted having received a 70,000 quetzals (approximately US$11,667) campaign contribution from Moreno, but claimed thathe had no knowledge of Moreno’s involvement in illegal activities.
17 September 1996: The Interior, Defense and Finance Ministers held a press conference to announce the dismissal of 27 officers from within the military and the police, among them Gen. Ortega Menaldo, Col.Salán Sánchez, Col. Oliva Carrera and Col. Napoleón Rojas Méndez.
18 September 1996: Presidential spokesman Ricardo de la Torre said that calculations were still being made, but it appeared that Moreno had evaded paying taxes on approximately 80 million quetzals (about US$15 million) per month over at least ten years.
27 September 1996: The prosecutors in charge of investigating Moreno reported that they had been repeatedly threatened and told not to move forward with the investigation or to bring the case to trial.
November 1996: The Public Ministry informed the press that Portillo received large quantities of money from Moreno during his unsuccessful bid for the presidency against victorious National Action Party (Partido de Acción Nacional, PAN) presidential candidate Alvaro Arzú.
December 1998: The Fifth Sentencing Court absolved Moreno for the crime of tax fraud. The Tenth Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Ruiz Wong who himself had been implicated in the Moreno case, upheld that verdict. The Supreme Court annulled the ruling and ordered that the case be reheard by an appeals court.
24 May 1999: Four witnesses linked Moreno to military officers and politicians. They indicated that “take” from the contraband was turned over weekly to judges, lawyers, Moreno family members and military officers. Allegedly Col. Salán Sánchez and Gen. Letona Hora each received 5,000 quetzals (about US$833) a week.
January 2000: After Portillo of the FRG won the presidency, the new attorney general, Rodolfo González Rodas, decided to close the Special Cases Unit that had been handling the Moreno case and investigating Moreno’s connections with Portillo and Ríos Montt. The case was reassigned to the Office of the Prosecutor Against Organized Crime.
21 January 2000: The Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Yolanda Pérez, upheld Moreno’s absolution for the fourth time on a technicality because the appeal was formulated improperly. In press statements, Moreno triumphantly declared that the case against him “is political … nothing has been proven against me.”
21 January 2001: Elio Sánchez, Gen. Ortega Menaldo and other individuals linked to the Moreno case managed to avoid pre-trial detention and were released on their own recognizance.
13 February 2001: The Sentencing Court presided over by Judge Sandra Ciudad Real revoked the order to imprison Moreno until the trial and ordered him freed upon payment of three million quetzals (aboutUS$389,600) in bail. Moreno was ordered to sign in every Monday and forbidden from leaving the country. The defense lawyer argued that Moreno did not have sufficient funds to make bail, and requested that the freeze on his properties be lifted to make available the required amount.
22 May 2001: The Criminal Sentencing Court ordered the lifting of the freeze on Moreno’s assets to allow him to raise money to make bail.
27 July 2001: The Criminal Sentencing Court reduced Moreno’s bail to one million quetzals (about US$128,370) although the Public Ministry calculated that he had defrauded the nation of approximately US$20 million.
11 December 2001: Moreno paid one million quetzals (about US$130,317) in bail and was released from prison.
29 March 2002: The Fourth Court of Appeals suspended the arrest warrant issued thirteen days earlier by the Sentencing Court against Moreno’s wife, Manuela Lucinda González, for failing to pay the 1.2 million quetzals (about US$151,900) in fines ordered in 2000. More than seven years after Moreno and key members of his network were charged with contraband, customs fraud, material falsehood and bribery, the case is still pending before the Sentencing Court in Mixco. (SOURCE: Washington Office on Latin America)
1970s: Salvadoran-born Alfredo Moreno Molina was assigned by the Guatemalan military to work with counter-insurgency efforts within Customs. Over time he built and oversaw an illegal network involvingpersonnel at different border crossing points.
1989: Within the Moreno network a smaller, more exclusive group was formed that called itself the Grupo Salvavidas or “Lifesaver Group.” The Salvavidas was an effort to intentionally put together a powerful network of men with influence in and connections to all spheres of public and politicallife in the country. Other key members included Justice of the Peace Osmundo Waldimir Villatoro Escobar, Judge Rolando Sagastume and Col. Jacobo Esdras Salán Sánchez.
14 September 1996: An investigation carried out by Defense Minister Julio Balconi Turcios concluded that Moreno had committed the crimes of tax fraud, falsification or alteration of documents, and illicit enrichment. The evidence implicated numerous high-ranking military officers and high-profile civilians, among them Gen. Luis Francisco Ortega Menaldo, Col. Juan Guillermo Oliva Carrera, Gen. Roberto Eduardo Letona Hora, Maj. Fernández Ligorría, Col. Salán Sánchez, Alfonso Portillo, Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, Col.Napoleón Rojas Méndez, Maj. Byron Barrientos and Mario Guillermo Ruiz Wong.
16 September 1996: Then-presidential contender Alfonso Portillo, candidate of the FRG, admitted having received a 70,000 quetzals (approximately US$11,667) campaign contribution from Moreno, but claimed thathe had no knowledge of Moreno’s involvement in illegal activities.
17 September 1996: The Interior, Defense and Finance Ministers held a press conference to announce the dismissal of 27 officers from within the military and the police, among them Gen. Ortega Menaldo, Col.Salán Sánchez, Col. Oliva Carrera and Col. Napoleón Rojas Méndez.
18 September 1996: Presidential spokesman Ricardo de la Torre said that calculations were still being made, but it appeared that Moreno had evaded paying taxes on approximately 80 million quetzals (about US$15 million) per month over at least ten years.
27 September 1996: The prosecutors in charge of investigating Moreno reported that they had been repeatedly threatened and told not to move forward with the investigation or to bring the case to trial.
November 1996: The Public Ministry informed the press that Portillo received large quantities of money from Moreno during his unsuccessful bid for the presidency against victorious National Action Party (Partido de Acción Nacional, PAN) presidential candidate Alvaro Arzú.
December 1998: The Fifth Sentencing Court absolved Moreno for the crime of tax fraud. The Tenth Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Ruiz Wong who himself had been implicated in the Moreno case, upheld that verdict. The Supreme Court annulled the ruling and ordered that the case be reheard by an appeals court.
24 May 1999: Four witnesses linked Moreno to military officers and politicians. They indicated that “take” from the contraband was turned over weekly to judges, lawyers, Moreno family members and military officers. Allegedly Col. Salán Sánchez and Gen. Letona Hora each received 5,000 quetzals (about US$833) a week.
January 2000: After Portillo of the FRG won the presidency, the new attorney general, Rodolfo González Rodas, decided to close the Special Cases Unit that had been handling the Moreno case and investigating Moreno’s connections with Portillo and Ríos Montt. The case was reassigned to the Office of the Prosecutor Against Organized Crime.
21 January 2000: The Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Yolanda Pérez, upheld Moreno’s absolution for the fourth time on a technicality because the appeal was formulated improperly. In press statements, Moreno triumphantly declared that the case against him “is political … nothing has been proven against me.”
21 January 2001: Elio Sánchez, Gen. Ortega Menaldo and other individuals linked to the Moreno case managed to avoid pre-trial detention and were released on their own recognizance.
13 February 2001: The Sentencing Court presided over by Judge Sandra Ciudad Real revoked the order to imprison Moreno until the trial and ordered him freed upon payment of three million quetzals (aboutUS$389,600) in bail. Moreno was ordered to sign in every Monday and forbidden from leaving the country. The defense lawyer argued that Moreno did not have sufficient funds to make bail, and requested that the freeze on his properties be lifted to make available the required amount.
22 May 2001: The Criminal Sentencing Court ordered the lifting of the freeze on Moreno’s assets to allow him to raise money to make bail.
27 July 2001: The Criminal Sentencing Court reduced Moreno’s bail to one million quetzals (about US$128,370) although the Public Ministry calculated that he had defrauded the nation of approximately US$20 million.
11 December 2001: Moreno paid one million quetzals (about US$130,317) in bail and was released from prison.
29 March 2002: The Fourth Court of Appeals suspended the arrest warrant issued thirteen days earlier by the Sentencing Court against Moreno’s wife, Manuela Lucinda González, for failing to pay the 1.2 million quetzals (about US$151,900) in fines ordered in 2000. More than seven years after Moreno and key members of his network were charged with contraband, customs fraud, material falsehood and bribery, the case is still pending before the Sentencing Court in Mixco. (SOURCE: Washington Office on Latin America)
# posted by Pad @ 10:10 AM 
