Former president of El Salvador, Elias Antonio Saca [Brittanica profile], was arrested Sunday on allegations of embezzlement and money laundering. Six other officials were arrested as well. The Salvadoran Attorney General opened a corruption investigation [press release, in Spanish] into Saca in April due to an unjustified income of over USD $4 million dollars. According to prosecutors, Saca’s private secretary Elmer Charlaix, deposited [Televisa report, in Spanish] over $15 million dollars in Saca’s personal bank accounts. Saca claims the money was used for official intelligence operations.

In El Salvador, other former presidents have also faced legal troubles for corruption in the past year. In May a court agreed to consider [JURIST report] a civil case against former president Mauricio Funes for alleged illicit enrichment concerning an unexplained USD $728,000 in expenditures and income. Last year, a Salvadoran judge ordered [JURIST report] former president Francisco Flores to stand trial on corruption charges. Flores was accused of embezzlement and illegal enrichment for allegedly diverting USD $15 million from Taiwanese donations to his personal and political bank accounts. In January, while awaiting trial, Flores died of a cerebral hemorrhage [JURIST report] while under house arrest.