Spain arrests 5 in Guatemala corruption investigation

MADRID – Spanish anti-corruption prosecutors have arrested five people who are suspected of being involved in payoffs by a Barcelona company to the former president and vice-president of Guatemala.

Prosecutors say Wednesday the case concerns the alleged payment between 2012 and 2015 of $30 million (27 million euros) in bribes by a Barcelona port operations company.

The money allegedly went to then-president Otto Pérez Molina and his vice-president Roxana Baldetti for a contract to build and operate a container terminal in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala’s largest Pacific Ocean port.

The statement by prosecutors also says they are investigating the alleged payment in 2016 of 10 million euros ($11 million) to a then-Spanish police commissioner to stop the extradition to Guatemala of the CEO of the firm named Grup Maritim Terminal de Contenedores de Barcelona.