Police arrest former Guatemalan president

Police captured former President Alfonso Portillo in northern Guatemala on Tuesday, a day after U.S. prosecutors indicted him on charges of laundering money stolen from foreign donations meant to buy children's books.

Dozens of agents raided a ranch in the province of Izabal to execute the arrest, Attorney General Amilcar Velasquez said.

An indictment unsealed Monday in federal court in New York alleges that in a four-year scheme starting in 2000, Portillo embezzled $1.5 million in donations from Taiwan intended to buy school library books.

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It accused Portillo of endorsing checks drawn from a New York bank and depositing them in a Miami account; the money then was transferred to a Paris account in the name of his ex-wife and daughter.

In 2001, prosecutors say, Portillo conspired with two members of the Guatemalan military — an unnamed colonel in charge of his security detail and an intelligence officer — to embezzle millions of dollars from the government. Some of the money was allegedly used to buy expensive cars and watches.

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The disgraced politician already was facing embezzlement charges in his own country.

Portillo, 58, served as president from 2000 to 2004 before fleeing to Mexico. He got a work visa and began working as a financial adviser for a construction materials company there, but was extradited to Guatemala in 2008.

The U.S. charges carry a possible prison sentence of 20 years.