Former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo appears in court this Wednesday, accused of corruption during his administration, in a case that also involves former leader Juan Orlando Hernández, who is imprisoned for drug trafficking in the United States.
Melvin Duarte, spokesperson for the Supreme Court of Justice, said that former President Lobo (2010-2014) “will appear before the sentencing court in the case being pursued against eight former officials […], including citizen Juan Orlando Hernández.”
The accusation was filed on October 11 by the Specialized Fiscal Unit Against Corruption Networks (Uferco).
Both are accused of “fraud and Hernández is also charged with money laundering of more than 62 million lempiras [2.5 million dollars],” the Public Ministry reported at the time.
Hernández, who governed in two periods from 2014 until January 2022, has been imprisoned in the United States since last April on charges of cocaine trafficking and use of firearms, accusations that could result in life imprisonment.
Duarte explained that Hernández will undergo “a special procedure” due to “the uncertainty of his fate” in the trial in New York and also because he enjoys immunity as a deputy of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) since leaving power. Lobo (2010-2014) is currently dedicated to agriculture in his native region of Olancho in eastern Honduras.
Along with the other six former officials, both “formed a corruption network between 2010 and 2013 that participated in the expansion and approval of disbursements of public funds for more than 288 million lempiras (11.6 million dollars),” argued the MP.
Hernández received “disbursements made from foundations […] for the financing of his political campaign,” he explained.
Lobo, for his part, authorized “the transfer of funds from one secretary to another to facilitate disbursements to his foundations used to drain funds,” he added.
“What we expect is that justice will be served in this looting of 288 million […] which were entirely used for the financing of political campaigns,” Luis Santos, head of Uferco, told local media.
The scourge of corruption exacerbates the situation in this Central American country of ten million inhabitants, where 74% of its population lives in poverty.
