The Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) of El Salvador opened a file on journalist Héctor Silva Ávalos over his alleged involvement in money laundering during the administration of former President Mauricio Funes Cartagena. Silva Ávalos, a co-founder of the Revista Factum magazine, is said to have received money from businessman Rodolfo «Fito» Salume Artiñano to establish the media outlet. Despite having an open file for the crime of money laundering, the FGR has not been able to prosecute the case, and it is alleged that this is due to the influence of the Cáceres brothers.
According to the information released by La Página, the file 49-UIF-2016 against Silva Ávalos was dated December 21, 2016 by the Financial Investigation Unit (UIF) of the Attorney General’s Office, which requested the National Civil Police (PNC) to conduct some urgent investigation procedures for a possible money laundering case. The investigation details that Silva Ávalos allegedly helped launder several million dollars in agreement with the owner of Puntual Collection Company, Gerardo Cáceres; the former Minister of Finance, Carlos Cáceres; and the former Private Secretary, Francisco Cáceres, during the Funes administration.
It is also said that about four years have passed, and the case against Héctor Silva is still in limbo and is likely to be archived in the coming months of this year. The documentation of the FGR reveals that Silva Ávalos was in charge of buying 40 purebred horses in Funes’ name, priced between $50,000 and $100,000 each, and the person who acquired these horses was Silva Ávalos and Juan Manuel Bolaños, an ex-employee of Grupo Q and related to ex-deputy Roberto Silva Pereira.