A probe into the alleged multi-million dollar embezzlement of public funds by elected officials in Bolivia saw former President Luis Arce detained.
Dec. 11 Former Bolivian President Luis Arce was arrested amid an anti-corruption drive by the new center-right government of President Rodrigo Paz Pereira in relation to siphoning off of at least $52.5 mllion in hydrocarbon taxes earmarked for projects for Indigenous communities.
State television reported that Arce, who was brought to Force for the Fight Against Crime HQ in the capital, La Paz, on Wednesday, was being questioned by police and that staff from the ombudsman’s office were in attendance.
Maria Nela Prada Tejada, his former presidency minister, said Arce had been snatched from off the street and bundled into a minivan with blacked-out windows in an « illegal kidnapping » by police.
However, an interior ministry warrant issued on the orders of the Attorney General Roger Mariaca states Arce was taken into custody on suspicion of « breach of duty and uneconomical conduct. »
Mariaca said Arce had declined to answer questions put to him by police and would appear in court Thursday where a judge would decide whether he would be held on remand, or released pending further proceedings.
