GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – President Otto Perez Molina has apologized to Guatemalans for a corruption scandal that has thrown the country into political crisis, but insists he will not resign his post and that his conscious is clear.
Perez made his remarks late Sunday about the customs fraud scandal in which businesspeople paid kickbacks to officials to avoid import duties. The scheme is believed to have defrauded the state of millions of dollars.
Ex-Vice President Roxana Baldetti was detained Friday as a suspect, and government leaders resigned over the weekend to protest the scandal. Even business chambers normally supportive of Perez Molina asked him to resign. Investigators are seeking to revoke the president’s immunity from prosecution in the case.
Perez has denied receiving any money from the fraud ring.