SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador: Prosecutors in El Salvador said Sunday they have formally charged former President Salvador Snchez Cern and nine other former officials with illicit enrichment and money laundering.
The charges are related to crimes allegedly committed when Snchez Cern served as vice president in the administration of President Mauricio Funes from 2009 to 2014. Snchez Cern left the country in December and has not returned.
The nine other former top officials in the Funes’ adminsitration were also charged in an alleged illegal scheme to pay exorbitant bonuses. Four of them are also at large.
The scheme allegedly involved $351 million in government funds that were used to make illegal payments to government employees and their associates. The case has become known as the Public Looting scandal.
Snchez Cern, who went on to serve as president from 2014 to 2019. allegedly received $530,000 from the scheme.
Both Funes and Snchez Cern were members of the FMLN party, founded by…