BCH speaks out on the case of captured officials and former officials

He Central Bank of Honduras (BCH) issued a statement this Thursday in which it ruled on the tax requirements presented by the Public Ministry against officials and former officials of the institution, ensuring their respect for the investigation processes and the independence of the justice bodies.

In the document, the BCH expressed its willingness to collaborate fully with the competent authoritiesproviding the information and support necessary to clarify the facts, in strict accordance with the current legal framework.

The monetary entity stressed that it fully respects the work of the organizations in charge of the investigation and administration of justice, while expressing confidence that the ongoing proceedings will allow the facts to be objectively clarified.

Likewise, he recalled that for more than seven decades it has played a fundamental role in the monetary, credit and exchange stability of the country, consolidating itself as a technical, solid and reliable institution for the financial system national and international.

He BCH reaffirmed its confidence in the rule of law and in the functioning of institutions, underlining the importance of guaranteeing fundamental principles such as the presumption of innocence, due process, equality of the parties and effective judicial protection.

The institution assured that it will continue to carry out its functions with absolute normality, guaranteeing compliance with its constitutional and legal mandate as the country’s monetary authority and banker of the State of Honduras.

Several of the officials and former officials of the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH), detained yesterday in Choluteca, Francisco Morazán y Cortés, appeared today at 1:30 in the afternoon at a hearing for the defendant’s statement in San Pedro Sula, Cortés.

This occurs after the Public Ministry presented a tax demand against them, attributing to them the alleged commission of 100 crimes of reckless embezzlement related to a millionaire embezzlement.

Among the accused is Arlen Fernando Cerrato Díaz, manager of the BCH in San Pedro Sula, accused of 35 crimes of reckless embezzlement. Virgilio Antonio Villalobo Gálvez, former head of the Operations Division, was also captured, accused of 32 crimes.

Likewise, the case includes Ana Cristina Oliva Cáceres, former manager of the BCH in San Pedro Sula; Aracely O’Hara Guillén and Carlos Fernando Ávila Hernández, who currently serve as managers of the Central Bank in Tegucigalpa; in addition to Alex Geovani Caballero Altamirano, Luis Arturo Avilés Moncada, Edgardo Antonio Álvarez Molina, Horacio Armando Laínez Pineda, Williams Edgardo Arévalo Rodríguez and Marco Tulio Nájera, all linked to operational and administrative areas of the institution.

According to the accusation presented by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Transparency and Combating Public Corruption (Fetccop), the defendants had engaged in negligent actions in the management and control of public resources, allowing the irregular theft of state funds.

On May 27, the San Pedro Sula Sentencing Court declared Francia Sofía Medina, known in the media as “La Barbie Fiscal”, guilty for being linked to this same network of corruption.