Francisco Roberto Cosenza has been arrested, extradition requested by the USA

Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Security Minister, Gustavo Sánchez, confirmed this on Monday, January 8 Detention No Francisco Roberto CosenzaThe former executive director of the Technical Committee on Population Security requested Extradition by USA.

“At this time, the National Police has detained Francisco Roberto Cosenza Centeno, pending an extradition order, holding him responsible for: 1) conspiracy to commit money laundering; 2) money laundering; 3) Transactions derived from criminal acts,” Sanchez wrote on his X account, formerly Twitter.

Cosenza was nabbed by police officers from his home during an operation conducted this Monday. The former officer had expressed his willingness to voluntarily surrender to authorities weeks ago.

Francisco Roberto Cosenza was requested to be extradited by the United States on December 14, 2023.

Cosenza is wanted by the Court of the Southern District of the State of Florida, which charges him with the crimes of money laundering, conspiracy to participate in the transactions of money laundering and proceeds of criminal activities, while holding his position in public. Administration

A former official of former President Juan Orlando Hernandez’s government, awaiting trial in New York for drug trafficking, may have committed these crimes between 2015 and 2020.

According to an investigation by the prosecutor’s office, Cosenza may have accepted a bribe to award a contract for the production of police uniforms to an American businessman.

Other defendants in the conspiracy are Carl Allen Zaglin, 68, owner of a Georgia-based police uniform and accessories factory, and Aldo Nestor Marchena, 50, of Boca Raton, Florida.

“Between March 2015 and approximately November 2019, Zaglin, Marchena and others allegedly agreed to pay bribes to Honduran government officials, including Cosenza, to obtain population security tax contracts worth more than $10 million (about 250 million lempiras) in current change)”, Mentioned the prosecutor’s office.

In exchange for bribes, Cosenza and other Honduran officials allegedly helped Zaglin, Marchena and others “obtain contracts for the sale of uniforms and other goods for the Honduran National Police and secure payment for the contracts.”

To hide the bribe payments, Zaglin, Marchena, and Cosenza, with the connivance of others, laundered the profits through bank accounts and front companies in the United States and Belize.

According to the indictment, the conspirators wired more than $166,000 (L4.1 million) to bank accounts controlled by Cosenza and another Honduran official to further the scheme.

After learning of the extradition request against him, the former security tax administrator revealed in an interview with news program Hoy Mismo that his role in the office is limited to following orders.

“Totally surprised, because I was an administrative person. What I got from the Security Committee (was) an instruction in which they ordered me to procure for all the security organizations of the Armed Forces, Police, CSJ and vice versa,” the former officer explained. .

In that sense, he asserted that “I had a committee above me that decided who they were going to buy from and once the products arrived, they ordered the payment to the Central Bank.”

The organization was composed of a government-appointed director, a second from the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP) and a third representative from civil society.

Likewise, Cosenza revealed that he received orders from high officials, including former president Juan Orlando Hernandez.

“I received orders from the President of the Republic (Juan Orlando Hernandez), the Minister of Security, the Minister of Defense, the President of the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Public Affairs,” he said in reference to how decisions were made.

Cosenza confirmed that he had two bank accounts in the United States, but denied any unusual movements.