Coto Barrientos, as well as two of his siblings and parents, are involved in embezzlement of at least $35 million through the Cosavi Cooperative of R.L.
The general manager of the Santa Victoria Savings and Credit Cooperative (COSAVI), Manuel Alberto Coto Barrientos, was captured in Panama and will be placed under the order of the authorities for the respective deportation to El Salvador, the Attorney General of the Republic, Rodolfo Delgado, said this afternoon through his Twitter account.
Coto Barrientos, like two of his brothers and parents, are involved in the embezzlement of at least $35 million through R.L.”s COSAVI Cooperative.
The prosecution did not provide further details at the time about where and how the capture occurred. “We thank the Panamanian authorities.”ProtegeryServir who are giving us all the necessary support for Manuel Alberto Coto Barrientos to be deported as soon as possible and to pay for the crimes committed in our country,” Delgado wrote through his Twitter account.
For its part, Interpol in Panama, without confirming or denying the arrest of Coto Barrientos, told the press that “the Panamanian National Police is in police operations aimed at its location for the purpose of its capture and being placed under the orders of the judicial authorities of El Salvador,” and noted that “Coto Barrientos is the subject of a Red Notice issued by the Interpol office of San Salvador.”
Last May, 15 people, out of a total of 32 involved, including eight managers, were captured for various crimes, including money-laundering and assets, defrauding the public economy, special cases of cover-up crime and illicit groups, among others.
Among those arrested were Manuel Alonso Gómez Raymundo, Saúl Orlando Méndez Manzano, Luís Luciano Orellana, René Alexander González Melgar, Juan Carlos Hernández Panameño, Elsa Estela Escobar Urquilla, Elscar Armando Munguía Vásquez, Carlos Alberto Cuellar, Rolando Alexander Henríquez, Jacqueline Jazmín Jorge de Hernández, María Isabel Jiménez Hernández, Manuel Alberto Coto Franco, Cerbelia Fidencia Barrientos de Coto and EdValdomiro Koreas Ávalos.
Similarly, 46 properties were frozen, including several luxury apartments, 27 vehicles and assets exceeding $14 million.
Unfinished returns
The return of savings to those affected began in a segmented manner last May, but there are still many of the victims without receiving their money.
The Superintendency of the Financial System has made the delivery of the money to savers for several layers, the most recent one was enabled on June 24, for people with savings of up to $7,500. The following stage, for savers with amounts of up to $10,000 are still waiting, although it had been announced that this layer would be enabled on July 9.
Those affected have repeatedly called for the delivery of the money to be expedited because they claim that most have assets of more than $200,000, which has made it difficult for them to carry out some activities in businesses and family aspects. They have also applied to be part of decision-making, but so far they have not been heard by the SSF.
This article has been translated after first appearing in La Prensa Grafica