21 properties and five companies attributed to Luis Arce's sons under money-laundering investigation
The Vice-Ministry of Transparency detailed assets linked to Luis Marcelo and Rafael Ernesto Arce Mosqueira. The Public Ministry appealed the house arrest granted to the former.
Assets attributed to former president Arce's sons: 21 properties, luxury vehicles and five companies
The Bolivian Government presented a list of properties, vehicles and companies allegedly linked to Luis Marcelo and Rafael Ernesto Arce Mosqueira, sons of former president Luis Arce, in an investigation into money laundering. According to El Deber, the information was presented by the Vice-Minister of Institutional Transparency and Anti-Corruption, Yamil García, following a judicial decision that granted house arrest to Luis Marcelo.
Judge Juan José Quiroz established 24-hour house arrest for Luis Marcelo Arce Mosqueira, home confinement, electronic surveillance and a bond of Bs 200,000. The accused had spent six months in custody at Palmasola prison. The Public Ministry appealed the ruling on the grounds that the measures do not guarantee his presence throughout the proceedings.
Properties in four departments
The investigation identified 21 houses, the majority located in Santa Cruz, in the areas of Porongo, Ayacucho and La Guardia. The list also includes a penthouse and four parking spaces in La Paz, as well as 13 other properties with cadastral codes whose location is not specified in the documents presented.
In Cochabamba a flat on the fifth floor of a building was identified. In Tarija another flat and a property called Victoria, both in Villamontes, are listed.
Among the assets is also a multi-family building with approximately 50 flats registered in the name of a minor. The authorities are investigating the origin of the funds used to acquire it.
García specified that all this data forms part of the investigations and does not yet constitute a final judicial determination regarding the ownership or illicit origin of the assets.
Five companies under suspicion
Among the companies mentioned are RSRAPEX-360 SRL, Rasheco Grupo SRL, Loop Warm Up SRL, Shoayllu SRL and Sermarhabiti SRL. Although other owners appear in their records, the Vice-Ministry maintains that the companies would be related to the Arce Mosqueira brothers, a link that will have to be established in the judicial process.
The Public Ministry expanded charges against four people—identified as Sergio S. B. D., Sergio H. O., Sergio M. F. and Francisco D. T.—who are being investigated for their alleged participation as intermediaries in the registration and administration of the assets.
Vehicles registered in the names of third parties
García stated that some properties and vehicles were registered in the names of third parties, although the funds would belong to the main subjects of the investigation. The list includes a Ford Ranger pickup truck, a Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4 model 2021 estate car, a BMW model 2025 automobile and a USM motorcycle. The status of alleged straw men will also have to be proved during the proceedings.
Government questions judge
The Government questioned the ruling that favoured Luis Marcelo Arce Mosqueira and announced a review of the administrative and disciplinary records of Judge Quiroz. It also noted that precautionary hearings for other accused parties were postponed whilst the request for cessation of preventive detention was being processed.
The granting of house arrest does not close the investigation. The proceedings regarding alleged money laundering continue, and the judicial ruling is under appeal by both the Public Ministry and the Vice-Ministry of Transparency.
Source: El Deber