Horacio Cartes is one of the wealthiest individuals in Paraguay and was President of the country from 2013 to 2018. He is suspected of having engaged in corruption before, during and after his term as President of Paraguay, mainly by allegedly bribing potential supporters, officials and policymakers for their loyalty and to ensure his interests. He is also accused of having ties to members of Hizballah, a Lebanese Islamist political party and militant group designated by the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization [1]. Additionally, Cartes was among the former Latin American officials featured in the Pandora Papers for his offshore connections [2]. Initially, in July 2022, Cartes was designated by the U.S. under the Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, along with his three children, for involvement in significant corruption and banned entry to the U.S. [3].
Information
| IDENTIFYING INFORMATION | Former president of Paraguay |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 05/07/1956 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Asuncion, Paraguay |
| NATIONALITY | Paraguay |
| COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE | Paraguay |
| FULL NAME | Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara |
| FIRST AND MIDDLE NAME(S) | Horacio Manuel |
| ALIASES | Horacio Viveros Cartes |
| FAMILY MEMBERS | Juan Pablo Cartes Montaña, Sofía Cartes Montaña, María Sol Cartes Montaña - children // Sarah Cartes - sister // María Montaña - ex spouse |
| SUSPECTED OR CONFIRMED LINKS TO LEGAL ENTITIES | Tabacos USA Inc, Bebidas USA Inc, Dominicana Acquisition S.A, Frigorifico Chajha S.A.E, Tabacalera del Este S.A. (a.k.a. TABESA), Grupo Cartes, Manantial Azul Development Corp. and Florale Business Corp |
| SUSPECTED OR CONFIRMED LINKS TO BANK ACCOUNTS | Account in a Paraguayan bank owned by Dominicana Acquisition SA. [1] |
| ESTIMATES OF ASSETS FROZEN OR CONFISCATED | Unknown |
| ESTIMATES OF ASSETS RETURNED | None |
| SANCTIONS IMPOSED | US Global Magnitsky sanctions regime .[2] |
| START OF SANCTIONS | 26.01.2023 [3] |