‘EL SALVADOR EX-PRESIDENT EMBEZZLED MILLIONS’

SAN SALVADOR: A former president of El Salvador, Elias Antonio Saca, arrested with six others over the weekend, stole US$246 million (RM1 billion) from state coffers, chief state prosecutor Douglas Melendez said yesterday. “An overall amount of US$246 million was embezzled into the accounts of individuals, benefiting those charged,” he said. Nearly half of that was taken out in cash after being transferred from government accounts to those of presidential employees who wired them to accounts belonging to companies “close to the accused”, he said. – AFP