Guatemala will extradite former president Alfonso Portillo to the United States if a court orders him to be sent there to face charges of laundering USD 1.5 million intended to buy books for school libraries.
President Álvaro Colom Caballeros said Wednesday Washington had sought 40 days of time to document the case of money- laundering and the government was "going to respect the request."
Earlier, following a U.S. request for the extradition of Portillo on charges of laundering money, Guatemalan police arrested Portillo, who led the Central American country from 2000 to 2004, at a beach January 26 as he was allegedly trying to flee the country by boat.
American federal prosecutors Tuesday unsealed an indictment in a New York court charging, him with embezzling USD 1.5 million donated by the Taiwanese government from a program called "Libraries for Peace," diverting the money to an account in Miami and then allegedly transferring it to a bank account in Paris in the name of his ex-wife and daughter.
The indictment also charges him with conspiring with two members of the Guatemalan military in 2001 to embezzle millions from the government and using some of the money to buy expensive cars and wrist watches.
Portillo refuted the allegations, saying he was the victim of a conspiracy and that he feared for his life. His lawyer said he would fight to enforce a 2008 law that required suspects be tried for charges they faced in Guatemala before being extradited.
After losing his immunity to prosecution for alleged corruption during his administration, the former president fled to Mexico in 2005. But in October 2008, the Mexican government extradited him back to Guatemala, where he has been awaiting trial on charges of embezzlement.
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