Israeli businessman, Guatemala ex-VP sentenced in $18 million fraud scheme

A Guatemalan court sentences former vice president Roxana Baldetti to more than 15 years in prison for involvement in a fraudulent state contract involving an Israeli firm.

Israeli businessman Uri Roitman is sentenced to 11 years in jail for bribery and conspiracy, according to local media reports.

A UN-backed anti-corruption commission accused Baldetti and 12 other people of conspiring to grant an $18 million contract to clean up Lake Amatitlan to Israel-based company M. Tarcic Engineering Ltd. Investigators determined the company used a substance that was merely water, salt and chlorine.

Judge Pablo Xitumul imposes a 15-and-a-half year sentence on the 55-year-old Baldetti for illegal association, fraud and influence trafficking. He calls her “the big chief” of the plan. Baldetti has consistently denied wrongdoing.

— with AP

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