Arya News - 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 (UPI) -- 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.
Arce is accused of approving payments of public funds into the private accounts of political leaders when he was finance minister in the 2006-2019 administration of President Evo Morales -- allegations his allies vehemently refute.
They allege he is the victim of a witch hunt by an administration that made no secret of its intention to go after Arce"s Movement for Socialism or MAS.
"We said that Luis Arce would be the first to go to prison, and we are delivering. Everyone who has stolen from this country will return every last cent and be held to account," said Vice President Edmand Lara.
Mariaca denied that the case against Arce, which comes 10 years after the so-called "Indigenous Fund" was shut down over alleged misappropriation of resources, was politically driven.
MAS MP Lidia Patty was arrested on Friday.
The reopening of the investigation was among 10 commissions initiated by Pereira after he took office on Nov. 8, to look at the actions of past MAS administrations. Following a change of government, former leaders are prohibited from leaving Bolivia for 90 days by law.
Interior Minister Antonio Oviedo said that Arce, authorized the transfer of large sums into officials" personal accounts for "ghost projects" never built, or left uncompleted.
He told a press conference Wednesday that Arce was "the principal person responsible for this multimillion economic damage that has occurred in the country."
"At the time he served as economy minister, Arce Catacora acted as president of this fund, and therefore bore direct responsibility."
The scandal took place during a period of strong export-driven economic growth in Bolivia powered a natural gas rush fueled by major discoveries that saw proven and probable reserves jump by more than 900%.
Morales is on the run in Bolivia for a separate alleged offense of fathering a child with an underage girl and has not been named in the corruption case.