This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Alb28 (talk | contribs) at 00:50, 7 December 2009 (←Created page with ''''Marcelo Chimirri''' is a Italian-Honduran businessman. Chimirri was appointed as the head of state-owned Hondutel by his friend and brother-in-law, President...'). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 00:50, 7 December 2009 by Alb28 (talk | contribs) (←Created page with ''''Marcelo Chimirri''' is a Italian-Honduran businessman. Chimirri was appointed as the head of state-owned Hondutel by his friend and brother-in-law, President...')(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Marcelo Chimirri is a Italian-Honduran businessman. Chimirri was appointed as the head of state-owned Hondutel by his friend and brother-in-law, President Manuel Zelaya.
1998 murder of a girl
On January 1998, Yadira Miguel Mejia was found dead in a septic tank in Honduras. Mejia was pregnant and according to her friend, the father was Marcelo Chimirri.
Corruption scandal
On May 8, 2006, Chimirri attacked Octavio Carvajal, a journalist who had raised embarrassing questions. Chimirri reportedly grabbed Carvajal by the throat and said "I am not intimidating you because I am not someone who makes threats - I act and I execute... the president’s office is irritated by all the questions you have been asking."
On September 8, 2007, Mexican newspaper El Universal noted that between 2005 and 2006, the first year of President Manuel Zelaya's administration, Hondutel's income strangely decreased 47%. Given that Hondutel is the only organization that can legally receive international calls, there was no logical reason why this had happened, raising questions where the money had went. Chimirri threatened El Universal with legal action.
Chimirri had made secret deals with American company called Latinode. Latinode sold its operations in 2007 to eLandia International Inc. The new owners discovered the corrupt deals and notified U.S. prosecutors.
FBI Criminal Division's Fraud Section concluded that Chimirri had used so-called gray traffic (tráfico gris) to make million to Latin Node, which in return transferred money to Chimirri and a number of other people in Honduras.
Chimirri denies FBI's evidence against him, saying that the accusers are seeing "pink elephants" and using "who knows what kind of psychotropic substances".
References
- "Radio journalist flees to US after being threatened by state phone company official". Reporters Without Borders. 2006-05-12.
- "Revelan en EU presunto fraude en Honduras". El Universal. 2007-09-08.
- ^ "Of Telephones and Corruption in Latin America: How a Bribery Case Involving a Florida Company Contributed to the Fall of the Government in Honduras". Pepper Hamilton LLP.
- Hondutel investigation almost complete
- Department of Justice Press Release