Miami, October 22 (RHC)-- Former Bolivian Interior Minister Arturo Murillo pleaded guilty to bribery and money laundering in a case of purchase of anti-riot material, which took place during the U.S.-backed de facto government lead by Jeanine Añez.
The Court of the Southern District of Florida hosted the hearing of this case. Since May 2021, the former Bolivian official has remained in the Miami Dade County Federal Detention Center in the United States, where he can spend up to six years in prison.
During the Añez regime, Murillo bought tear gas for $5.7 million from the Bravo Tactical Solutions, which in turn paid $3.3 million to the Brazilian company Condor. In this intermediation operation, the Bolivian state was harmed by $2.3 million, which were divided between three U.S. citizens and Murillo's former chief of staff.
Previously, U.S. judges sentenced accomplices Philip Lichtenfeld, Sergio Mendez, and brothers Bryan and Luis Berkman, all of whom also pleaded guilty in Florida. Lichtenfeld and the Berkman brothers paid $602,000 in bribes to Murillo and Mendez to secure the award of the contract with the Defense Ministry between November 2019 and April 2020.
This corruption case happened at a time when the U.S.-backed regime was trying to repress workers, farmers, and students who were protesting against the coup that removed President Evo Morales, the leader of the Movement Towards Socialism, from power.
