Fraud

Honduras's Public Ministry is investigating Centro Médico Centroamericano in Tegucigalpa for allegedly using uncertified scanning equipment to issue false disease diagnoses, charging patients over 5,000 lempiras (about $200) for bogus results and expensive treatments.

The Honduran Medical College says it cannot investigate fraudulent clinics run by Colombians giving false diagnoses unless the operators are licensed physicians, leaving enforcement to prosecutors and local authorities.

Iván Velásquez, the former manager of Koriun Inversiones—a company accused of running a Ponzi-scheme fraud—was transferred from Támara prison to the Center for Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences for medical and psychiatric evaluation; the court has not disclosed who requested the assessment.

Former President Juan Orlando Hernández expressed confidence in his case on fraud and money-laundering charges ahead of a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Former President Juan Orlando Hernández's legal team submitted 36 pieces of evidence—34 documents, one witness, and one expert analysis—during an initial hearing in the Pandora II fraud and money-laundering case, with the trial to resume August 24 to address prosecution objections.

The initial hearing in the Pandora II case against former President Juan Orlando Hernández, accused of fraud and money laundering tied to diverted public funds from 2010–2013, resumes on August 18 after prosecutors presented 49 pieces of evidence.

A 17-year-old in Siguatepeque, Comayagua, faked his abduction and sent his mother threatening videos demanding 15,000 lempiras (about $600) to recover a pawned motorcycle; he and his 17-year-old accomplice were detained on August 15 and referred to juvenile prosecutors.

A court postponed the initial hearing against former president Juan Orlando Hernández on fraud and money-laundering charges to August 18, after his legal team requested more time to review evidence presented by prosecutors.

A 27-year-old construction worker from Intibucá staged a fake abduction and demanded L1 million (about $40,000) from his employer and colleagues in Marcala, La Paz, but police found him unharmed on a coffee farm, where he admitted the scheme was meant to pay debts and avoid work.

Honduras law requires anyone who receives money by banking error to return it, with civil and penal liability—including fraud charges—for those who spend or refuse to repay the funds.

A Honduran court ruled that former president Juan Orlando Hernández, who returned to Honduras in July after a U.S. pardon, will face trial on money-laundering and fraud charges while free but barred from leaving the country, with an initial hearing set for August 12.

Prosecutors opened a new investigation into Ninfa Suyapa Flores, former director of the National Institute for Juvenile Offenders, for alleged irregularities in food-procurement processes at the agency, adding to charges of abuse of authority, fraud, and workplace harassment.

A judge scheduled an August 20 hearing for former Health Minister Alba Flores to answer fraud and document-falsification charges stemming from a COVID-19 mobile hospital procurement scandal; Flores has evaded justice since November 2023.

Honduras's road-transport authority warned citizens of a fraud scheme in which criminals send text messages impersonating the DNVT with fake traffic fines and links designed to steal personal information.

Police arrested a 39-year-old man in Tegucigalpa on charges of defrauding vehicle owners who consigned cars for sale; he allegedly transferred titles to third parties without authorization and forged documents, facing at least 16 complaints.

A judge postponed the initial hearing against former INAMI director Ninfa Flores and three co-defendants accused of fraud and abuse of authority to July 28, at the defense's request pending submission of evidence.

A 27-year-old woman in Comayagua was arrested for fabricating her own abduction in November 2025 and demanding $10,000 from relatives to pay off personal debts; police detected inconsistencies in her initial report.

A 24-year-old in Choluteca reported losing L22,000 (about $880) in remittance money intended for home-construction materials when an elderly man used a sleight-of-hand trick to swap his cash for paper at a bank exit on June 17.

Ninfa Flores Castellanos, who directed the National Institute for Juvenile Offenders from 2023 to 2024, appeared in court on charges of fraud and abuse of authority; a judge set an initial hearing for July 20 to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to proceed with trial.

Police arrested two women accused of operating a smuggling scam that took $3,000–$4,000 from Hondurans seeking illegal passage to the United States, then failed to deliver the promised services, with some victims waiting years for help that never came.

A judge issued a formal processing order with substitute measures against Daniel Alejandro Méndez on charges of misappropriation and unlawful retention and falsification of public documents, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 23.

Eight current and former Central Bank of Honduras employees accused of misappropriation in connection with an 88.6-million-lempira embezzlement linked to former prosecutor Francia Medina will face trial while free, with an initial hearing set for June 18.

Four suspects have been sent to prison in connection with a computer fraud scheme that siphoned more than 2 million lempiras (roughly $80,000) from a company.

A judge scheduled June 9 for the ruling in the initial hearing against three former San Pedro Sula municipal officials, including the mayor's son-in-law, accused of money laundering, bribery, and fraud in a scheme that prosecutors say caused losses exceeding 45.5 million lempiras.

A judge scheduled a June 9 preliminary-hearing ruling on whether to send three former San Pedro Sula municipal officials — including the son-in-law of Mayor Roberto 'El Pollo' Contreras — to trial on charges of money laundering, influence peddling, and fraud tied to road contracts worth over 45.5 million lempiras (about $1.8 million) that prosecutors say were never lawfully executed.

Honduras's Public Prosecutor's Office dismantled a criminal network accused of cyber fraud against a company, stealing more than two million lempiras (about $80,000).