Publicado el 21 Octubre 2025
Fraud for a Party: Two Indicted Over Fake Endorsements in Political Registration Scandal
After nearly two years of investigation, the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Electoral Crimes has brought criminal charges against two individuals linked to a large-scale forgery and bribery scheme tied to the formation of the political party Alianza por la Justicia.
According to the investigation, Mario U., then Secretary General of the party’s organizing committee, submitted thousands of fraudulent citizen endorsement forms to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) between December 2022 and February 2023.
But the endorsements weren’t real. Authorities found that many forms contained personal information of citizens and TSE employees — all used without consent.
Pressured to meet the 25,000-signature requirement, Mario U. allegedly conspired with Gustavo P., a TSE official, to fake roughly 12,000 endorsements in exchange for Q250,000. Payments were reportedly made in four installments, and used to access private data that was later used to forge forms and signatures.
Handwriting analysis by the National Institute of Forensic Sciences confirmed that the forged forms were filled out by Gustavo P., directly implicating him in the fraud.
As a result, the court has formally indicted both men:
- Gustavo P. is charged with passive bribery, material falsification, ideological falsification with electoral aggravation, and abuse of authority for electoral purposes.
- Mario U. is charged with use of a forged document with electoral aggravation.
Judicial secrecy was lifted only for the two individuals now facing trial. The investigation continues into other possible participants.
Guatemala City, October 17, 2025