Posted: Saturday, September 17, 2016. 9:16 a.m. CST.
By BBN Staff: The office of the Guatemalan attorney general announced on Thursday that a judge has barred a son and brother of President Jimmy Morales from leaving the country pending an investigation into their role in a case centering on irregular payments.
Last year, Morales won pledging to clean up politics in the neighboring country after a corruption scandal that caused public uproar and led to the arrest of Ex president retired General Otto Perez.
One of Jimmy’s four sons, Manuel Morales and Samuel Morales who is the president’s older brother and advisor were questioned in relation to suspicious payments linked to the mother of Jose Manuel’s then-girlfriend in 2013.
The attorney general said that the woman sent the registry a 90,000 quetzal ($12,000) bill made out in the name of a local restaurant for 564 breakfasts, not Christmas hampers as the budget was allocated for.
It was not clear what happened to the Christmas hampers or why the woman submitted the bill through the restaurant.
Sammy Morales told the Guatemalan media on Wednesday that he had helped obtain the bill from the restaurant as “a favor” to his nephew, but he denied it was part of a fraud scheme.
At this time, neither men have been charged with any wrong doing.
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