Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Customs agents fraud ring busted in Guatemala

-

Guatemala busted a ring of at least 15 customs agents, port workers and transport company workers on Friday accused of using falsified documents to avoid paying customs duties.

The revelation by prosecutors came two years after the previous government fell when it was discovered senior officials took bribes to allow businessmen to escape import taxes.

The president and vice president from that administration, Otto Perez and Roxana Baldetti, are in jail pending possible trial.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said the 15 suspects arrested Friday used falsified documents to retrieve goods from the southern port of Quetzal, depriving the government of $570,000 in duties.

The investigation started in December after a tip-off about a container being removed from the port without respecting rules, the spokeswoman, Yecenia Enriquez, told reporters.

Guatemala busted a ring of at least 15 customs agents, port workers and transport company workers on Friday accused of using falsified documents to avoid paying customs duties.

The revelation by prosecutors came two years after the previous government fell when it was discovered senior officials took bribes to allow businessmen to escape import taxes.

The president and vice president from that administration, Otto Perez and Roxana Baldetti, are in jail pending possible trial.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said the 15 suspects arrested Friday used falsified documents to retrieve goods from the southern port of Quetzal, depriving the government of $570,000 in duties.

The investigation started in December after a tip-off about a container being removed from the port without respecting rules, the spokeswoman, Yecenia Enriquez, told reporters.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

Calling for urgent action is the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Business

The cathedral is on track to reopen on December 8 - Copyright AFP Ludovic MARINParis’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, ravaged by fire in 2019, is on...

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Business

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal infers that some workers might be falling out of the job market altogether.