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Son, brother of president to stand trial on fraud charges

Published:Saturday | May 27, 2017 | 3:25 PM
Moises Castillo
FILE - In this January 2017 photo, Samuel Everardo Morales (left center), the brother of Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales, land the president's son Jose Manuel Morales Marroquin, sit in a courtroom in Guatemala City.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP):

A Guatemalan judge has ruled the brother and son of President Jimmy Morales must stand trial in a case of alleged corruption.

The judge ruled late last Friday that the president's son, JosÈ Manuel Morales Marroquin, and brother Samuel will stand trial for fraud.

They allegedly submitted about $23,000 worth of false receipts in an alleged tax fraud scheme that occurred in 2013, before Morales took office.

The two have said they are innocent. Both spent about a month in jail before being released on a form of bail while the trial continues.

Guatemalan prosecutors backed by the United Nations commission have brought a string of anti-corruption cases, most notably against former President Otto Perez Molina.