Former first lady arrested on embezzlement charges

Rosa Elena Bonilla, the wife of former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, was detained on charges of embezzling over 500,000 dollars in government funds, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to the La Prensa newspaper and other media, the money had been deposited on a bank account of the former first lady’s office and was destined for social projects.

Bonilla was suspected of transferring it to her personal bank account six days before Lobo left the presidency after serving a four-year term until January 2014.

Bonilla was arrested at the residence of her sister on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, where her brother-in-law was also detained.

Lobo’s residence was however searched in connection with the case.

-NAN