Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Luis Miguel Martinez Morales for his role in corruption in Guatemala wherein he engaged in widespread bribery schemes, including schemes related to government contracts.
Martinez is the former head of the now-defunct Centro de Gobiernoa powerful quasi-cabinet level agency created by Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei at the start of his administration. President Giammattei was forced to shut down the Centro de Gobierno in December 2020 following backlash to Martinez’ rising power in the government. During his time as the head of Centro de Gobierno, Martinez was considered one of the most powerful unelected officials in the government. While he does not currently hold a government position, Martinez remains one of the most influential individuals in the Giammattei administration.
Martinez has influenced the government contracts process to benefit himself and close associates. Martinezcolluded with other Guatemalan government officials to illegally award contracts to favored bidders outside of Guatecompras, the Guatemalan government’s formal procurement system. Martinez and his conspirators used antiquated procurement law to forego the bidding process and secure government contracts for companies in which he has a financial interest.
In 2021, Martinez solicited large kickbacks to facilitate the purchase of the Russian Sputnik V vaccines by the Government of Guatemala. Guatemala’s special anti-corruption agency investigated Martinez for his role in a controversial payment tied to the purchase of 16 million doses of Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines by the Guatemalan government.
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