Otto Pérez Molina

Otto Pérez Molina served as President of Guatemala from 2012 to 2015 and is widely associated with multiple corruption scandals and legal proceedings. In December 2022, he was convicted by a Guatemalan court of fraud and conspiracy related to the "La Línea" customs corruption scheme, which involved racketeering and fraud targeting the customs system. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison, receiving an eight-year sentence for each count (Al Jazeera, AP News). He and his Vice President, Roxana Baldetti, resigned in September 2015 amid these scandals and were detained on charges of permitting and benefiting from the customs scheme, known as "La Línea" (Al Jazeera, Britannica). Further investigations revealed that Pérez Molina and Baldetti were involved in a broader corruption network, including embezzlement, illegal financing, and money laundering, with allegations of millions of dollars in illicit funds used for luxury goods, real estate, and travel. Prosecutors accused Pérez Molina of receiving millions in illegal financing through shell companies, while Baldetti was alleged to have received $38 million in kickbacks for public works contracts (AP News). Despite these allegations, Pérez Molina has denied any wrongdoing. As of 2026, he remains convicted and in custody, with ongoing legal proceedings related to his activities (Wikipedia).