Republished January 08, 2020 - 6:00 PM
Original Publication Date January 08, 2020 - 4:26 PM
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - A former Salvadoran congressman was arrested Wednesday following his deportation from the United States, where he fled in 2007.
Roberto Silva Pereira was a congressman from El Salvador's conservative National Conciliation Party who was stripped of his immunity from prosecution but fled before facing charges of bribery and money laundering.
Silva Pereira was ordered held at the country's highest-security prison pending trial.
He allegedly bribed local officials to grant unfair contracts to front companies.
He then allegedly laundered as much as $14 million in proceeds from the scheme. Silva Pereira was detained by immigration authorities in Anaheim, California and held in Arizona, where he requested asylum but was denied.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020