Money Laundering

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.

Criminal investigations unit ATIC conducted nine raids across multiple departments on August 31 targeting an extortion ring allegedly run by an inmate at the National Penitentiary of Támara, who used another person's bank account for over 51 million lempiras (about $2 million) in suspicious transfers.

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

Former prosecutor Nilia Ramos criticized Honduras's courts for acquitting Alexander Ardón — who confessed in a U.S. court to drug trafficking and involvement in 56 murders — on money-laundering charges on August 24, and called for an audit of the judiciary to determine what went wrong.

A specialized criminal court scheduled a hearing resolution for September 1 in the case against former president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is accused of fraud and money laundering; prosecutors are seeking formal charges and pretrial detention.

A Honduran court acquitted Alexander "Chande" Ardón, a former mayor deported from the United States, of money-laundering charges after finding technical and mathematical errors in the prosecution's financial analysis of his alleged unjustified assets.

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 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.

Former president Juan Orlando Hernández, previously convicted in the US of drug trafficking and later pardoned, stated he will face money-laundering accusations with respect for the justice system.

The initial hearing in the fraud and money laundering case against former president Juan Orlando Hernández was set to begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to judiciary spokesman Carlos Silva.

A Honduran court finished trying Alexander Ardón, a confessed drug trafficker whose testimony was central to the U.S. conviction of former president Juan Orlando Hernández (sentenced to 45 years), on money-laundering charges; the court will announce its verdict on August 24.

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.

Former president Juan Orlando Hernández is set to appear in court on August 3 facing fraud and money-laundering charges in the Pandora II case, in which prosecutors allege a network diverted over 288 million lempiras (about $11.5 million) in state funds between 2010 and 2013, with at least 62 million lempiras allegedly benefiting his presidential campaign.

Starting August 3, Honduras will undergo its first anti-money-laundering assessment in a decade by Gafilat (the Latin American Financial Action Group), with results affecting investor confidence and the risk of being placed on the international Financial Action Task Force's grey list.

Prosecutors seized 228 assets worth over 420 million lempiras (about $17 million) linked to the Los Domínguez criminal organization in a simultaneous operation across Choluteca and Valle departments, including property, businesses, and financial accounts allegedly connected to drug trafficking and money laundering.

A court acquitted José Rodimiro Arita, former director of La Tolva maximum-security prison, of money laundering and criminal association charges, but found him guilty of breach of duty for failing to report 445,000 lempiras (about $17,800) that entered the facility; sentencing is scheduled for August 4.

A Honduran court ordered the Public Prosecutor's Office to return more than 60 assets to the retail company Mangys Store after the company's legal representatives proved the goods were lawfully obtained, demonstrating no connection to money laundering or other crimes.

Francisco Cosenza, former director of Honduras's security-funding agency, was sentenced to five years of home confinement with electronic monitoring by a Miami federal judge after admitting to financial transactions involving proceeds from criminal activity.

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.

Francisco Cosenza, former director of Honduras's Security Tax (Tasa de Seguridad), was sentenced in Miami to five years of home detention after pleading guilty to money laundering and bribery charges tied to over $10 million in padded police uniform and supply contracts.