María Marta Castañeda Torrescohabitant of Aldo Dupié Ochoa Mejía, known as “the wolf“, leader of Barrio 18, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison for the crimes of money laundering or other assets and a special case of fraud, the Public Ministry (MP) reported on Monday, May 4.
According to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, between 2004 and 2006 Castañeda Torres charged Q710 thousand for services that were never provided to the Municipality of Comapa, Jutiapa. For this fact, the court also imposed a fine of Q1 thousand.
But this would not be an isolated case; It is part of an investigation that revealed a criminal structure of which Castañeda Torres’ sister and former public officials were part.
The MP’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office indicated that María Marta Castañeda Torres had a company called Afinsa, which operated from 2004 to 2006. In that same period, her sister, Crista Eugenia María Castañeda Torresalso operated a company named ASEF, and both received money from the State.
How did María Marta Castañeda Torres operate?
The Castañeda Torres family’s way of operating was the same in the municipalities of Comapa, Jutiapa, and San Pedro Soloma, Huehuetenango: they presented themselves as intermediaries between the communes and the banks to expedite loans for public works. However, these negotiations never materialized and were fictitious, according to the MP.
“Although the banks had already approved loans to carry out different works, members of the municipality contracted the external company that apparently provided advice and management to obtain the credit,” the prosecutor’s office explained.
He added that María Marta Castañeda Torres was hired, through her company, for professional services that were unnecessary, because those loans had already been granted to the communes.
According to the investigation, María Marta Castañeda Torres’ objective was to defraud public funds.
“The defendant’s only intention was to defraud the State’s assets and that is why she made several charges. The first for Q210 thousand and the second for Q500 thousand, but the services, as I indicated, were never provided,” he explained.
The MP indicated that the audit carried out by the Comptroller General of Accounts was key to the investigation, since it determined that it was unnecessary to hire María Marta Castañeda Torres’ company and pay her for trying to be an intermediary.
Convictions for defrauding the State
According to the prosecutor’s office, in this same case Crista Eugenia María Castañeda Torres, María Marta’s sister, was convicted of the crime of special case of fraud.
Henry Recinos Recinos, who worked as financial director of the Municipality of Comapa, was also convicted of the crime of embezzlement.
In addition, José Otoniel Vásquez, former mayor of Comapa, Jutiapa, was sentenced for the crime of embezzlement.
He added that, within this same structure of fraud and money laundering, Nicolás Mateo Pérez Rodríguezformer mayor of San Pedro Soloma, Huehuetenango, was sentenced in 2019 to nine years in prison for diverting funds from a loan.
According to the prosecution, these convictions correspond to the first phase of the case, while the sentence against María Marta Castañeda Torres constitutes the second part of the investigation.
Link of María Marta Castañeda Torres in other investigations
Castañeda Torres’ name has also emerged in other investigations due to his relationship with Ochoa Mejía, alias “el Lobo.” According to the MP, this link is considered in investigations related to the attack against prosecutor Miriam Reguero Sosa, which occurred on March 27, 2024 in zone 9.
The authorities are investigating whether the now convicted woman had acted under instructions from Ochoa Mejía in planning the armed attack. The incident resulted in the death of Carlos Humberto González, 55, the prosecutor’s security guard, and Miriam Sosa, 65, the official’s mother.
Castañeda Torres is charged with the crimes of illicit association, murder and attempted murder.