Corruption

The Public Ministry formally charged prosecutor Bayron Ibrán Valle Ardón with aggravated violence against a woman, extortion, and illegal entry for allegedly using his office to enter his ex-partner's home without a warrant in Catacamas on April 25, 2025, and demand 6,000 lempiras to avoid her arrest.

Francisco Ernesto Ruiz Nieto, former director of Honduras's asset-seizure office (OABI), was convicted of violating official duties for moving 135 lots of seized jewelry and 28 watches from San Pedro Sula to Tegucigalpa in 2019 without proper procedure, resulting in the disappearance of items valued at L1.27 million (about $51,000).

Glenda Jiménez, a prosecutor with the Common Crimes unit in San Pedro Sula, was arrested by anti-corruption investigators on charges of allegedly accepting payments of between 500 and 20,000 lempiras from a complainant in exchange for promising to close a case against them.

An Education Ministry audit of the Instituto Técnico Alemán in San Pedro Sula uncovered a shortfall of over 7 million lempiras (about $280,000) and six years of unreported fund management, prompting legal action against the school's director.

Honduras's Liquidating Commission found that the former Libre government's Strategic Planning Secretariat paid 54 million lempiras (about $2.16 million) over 18 months to a Venezuelan adviser who profiled media outlets and journalists by political alignment and advised on promoting democratic socialism messaging.

Honduras's audit tribunal found that Fundaniquem (the Burn Foundation) hired staff members without following proper procedures during 2019–2020, including relatives of director Omar Elías Mejía Zúniga; Mejía confirmed his daughter, a niece, and another relative currently work there as medical staff.

A U.S. State Department report finds Honduras has investment advantages—proximity to the United States, CAFTA-DR trade access, and over 200 American companies operating there—but says high electricity costs, logistics gaps, corruption, and legal uncertainty continue to deter expansion.

Guatemalan entrepreneur Axel López has filed a second lawsuit against Honduras over seven mobile hospitals purchased during COVID-19 that never functioned as intended, adding to the country's financial and legal burden from the pandemic-era procurement.

Honduras's Supreme Audit Court found that the state power utility ENEE redirected about 2 billion lempiras (roughly $80 million) intended for a national program to reduce electrical losses, preventing the purchase of equipment and services needed to meet its efficiency targets in 2023–24.

Honduras awarded a 49.7 million lempiras (about $2 million) contract for a national early-alert platform to a consortium including International Technology Group, a company identified as connected to a scheme that siphoned roughly 7 billion lempiras from the social-security institute.

The Public Ministry has requested preliminary proceedings against five members of Congress from the Libre party and two former Social Development Ministry officials on suspicion of fraud and breach of official duties harming the state.

Honduras's Anticorruption Council urged the Supreme Court to resolve a years-long cassation delay in the Bográn mobile-hospital case, warning the stall undermines public trust in justice.

The penitentiary authority reported that Marco Antonio Bográn Corrales was not released immediately after a court ruling because he faces another pending criminal case, so he remains in custody.

A plane owned by a company whose proprietor was implicated in drug trafficking links to former presidents Juan Orlando and Juan Antonio Hernández in the Pandora case is participating in the government's cloud-seeding operation to fight drought in Honduras's dry corridor, at a cost of over 16 million lempiras (about $640,000).

A sentencing tribunal in La Ceiba held a trial hearing for Ronal Alexis Cotto on charges of abuse of authority and violation of official duties in connection with harm to the public administration.

Honduras's appellate court confirmed a ruling ordering the seizure of $4.2 million tied to a pandemic-era mobile-hospital purchase, funds now held in U.S. bank accounts that the government will seek to recover through international legal assistance once the sentence becomes final.

Honduras's attorney general has filed criminal charges against two ZEDE Próspera officials—the technical secretary and civil prosecutor—alleging treason and usurpation of public functions, with lawmakers including Liberal deputy Carlos Umaña calling the special economic zones a product of corruption.

Honduras's Appeals Court unanimously revoked the formal charges against David Chávez, former head of the National Party's Central Committee, over alleged fraud and misconduct in a 75.8-million-lempira (about $3 million) irregular procurement at the national vocational institute.

Prosecutors have charged 11 Central Bank of Honduras employees and former employees with negligent embezzlement for allowing ex-prosecutor Francia Medina to withdraw L88.8 million (about $3.5 million) in seized evidence from bank vaults without proper authorization.

A US House Democrats report suggests that efforts to secure Donald Trump's pardon for former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández were tied to business interests in Próspera, the economic zone that Hernández enabled during his presidency.

The Supreme Court of Accounts reported over a year ago that a failed irrigation project in El Paraíso's Jamastrán Valley squandered more than $8.5 million of a $26.5 million Indian loan due to poor planning and administrative failures, but the Public Ministry has not prosecuted anyone despite receiving audit findings.

A criminal court absolved former officials Mario Zelaya and Ramón Bertetty of violating their official duties in an IHSS procurement case, ruling the adjudication was approved by the board rather than a personal infraction, though both have faced multiple other convictions related to IHSS embezzlement.

An investigation found that former Libre congressman Andrés Castro directed L3.6 million (about $145,000) in Sedesol social aid to a ghost patronato and beneficiaries linked to an internal Libre faction and allied businesses, with at least L1.5 million (about $60,000) in food vouchers unaccounted for.

Honduras's Attorney General's Office (PGR) has appealed a judge's decision to dismiss money-laundering and fraud charges against former president Juan Orlando Hernández, arguing the judge improperly excluded 58% of the prosecution's evidence and wrongly demanded direct rather than circumstantial proof in an organized-crime case.

An investigation by El Heraldo found that Libre members of Congress directed nearly 224 million lempiras ($9 million) in social assistance—food vouchers, scholarships, and infrastructure aid—between 2023 and 2024 toward party members and their circles, while registered beneficiaries reported never receiving promised benefits.

An assessment by academics, civil-society groups, businesses, international donors, and political actors finds that 80% consider the government's anti-corruption response ineffective, with widespread doubt that deep structural change is occurring.

A Honduran court on September 1 dismissed charges against former president Juan Orlando Hernández in the Pandora II case, ruling prosecutors failed to prove he diverted $10.8 million to his 2013 campaign when he led Congress, and ordering his release.

Fernando Suárez, convicted of embezzlement and fraud in the Pandora case involving misappropriated agriculture ministry funds, has been released after serving his sentence; he remains liable for a fine of 288 million lempiras (about $11.5 million) owed to the state.

Former Planning Minister Ricardo Salgado's ministry spent L22.9 million (about $920,000) on vehicle rentals over three years, with spending surging to L16.1 million in the 2025 election year—a roughly five-fold increase from 2024.

Luis Javier Santos, a former UFERCO prosecutor, says Honduras's judiciary has long protected impunity by weakening, shelving, or stalling corruption cases — including Hermes, Arca Abierta, and a deputy-fund scheme — before they reach conviction.