Browse Honduras Daily Stories

Congress started reviewing proposed amendments to Honduras's money-laundering law on Monday to align with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force, tightening rules on asset tracing, seizure, and forfeiture tied to illicit activity.

An appeals court confirmed formal charges against four people, including former Koriun Inversiones manager Iván Velásquez Castro, on money-laundering, weapons, and criminal-association charges stemming from the large-scale investment fraud scheme.

The president of Honduras's banking regulator highlighted the importance of national capacity-building and regional cooperation to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and weapons proliferation, citing the Fifth Round of Mutual Evaluations as a key accountability measure.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.