Rosa Elena Bonilla
First Lady of Honduras
In role
27 January 2010 (2010-01-27) – 27 January 2014 (2014-01-27)
PresidentPorfirio Lobo
Preceded bySiomara Girón
Succeeded byAna García Carías
Personal details
Born (1967-02-02) 2 February 1967
Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán, Honduras
Political partyNational Party of Honduras
SpousePorfirio Lobo
ChildrenÁmbar, Saíd, Rosa Elena, and Luis
RelativesLeonor Bonilla (aunt)
Sergio Bonilla (uncle)
Fernando Bonilla Álvarez (uncle)

Rosa Elena Bonilla Ávila, also known as Rosa Elena de Lobo (born 2 February 1967), a Honduran politician and interior designer, is the wife of the 54th president of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo and former First Lady of Honduras.[1]

Biography

Rosa was born on 2 February 1967 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras to Fernando Bonilla Martínez and Maria Elena Avila. She spent her childhood in El Basque neighborhood and studied at "Escuela 14 de julio". She graduated in interior designing from "Instituto Alfa" in Tegucigalpa in 1987.[2]

In early 1990s Rosa served as secretary in the office of Porfirio Lobo, who was then the director of the Honduran Forest Development Corporation (COHDEFOR).[3] Porfirio and Rosa got married in 1992 and have four children Amber, Said, Rosa Elena, and Luis Fernando.[4]

Criminal charges

On the morning of 28 February 2018, Rosa Elena was arrested at her home in the El Chimbo sector of Tegucigalpa under accusations of corruption,[5] which were the result of an investigation between the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Mission of Support against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (Maccih), which called this case "the lady's petty cash". On that day Rosa Elena was placed under judicial arrest and sent to the Penitentiary for Women's Adaptation in Camara.6 In August, pre-trial detention was ratified for those involved in the case.[6]

According to the accusation, Bonilla was part of a money-laundering network that appropriated some 16 million lempiras, which were state funds earmarked for social works. On 22 January 2014 (five days before the end of her term as First Lady) Rosa allegedly opened a personal account to transfer 12 million lempiras (about US$500,000) from the official account of the Office of the First Lady.[6] Her brother-in-law, Mauricio Mora, and her former private secretary, Saúl Escobar, were also implicated in the case.

On 20 August 2019,[7] Bonilla was found guilty of three counts of misappropriation and eight counts of fraud, and was acquitted of the crimes of money laundering and embezzlement of public funds. On 4 September, she was sentenced to 58 years in prison:[8] 10 years for the charges of misappropriation and 6 years for each charge of fraud, in addition to a fine of 1.2 million lempiras - 10% of the appropriated value - and the confiscation of property and the total value of the fraud.[9] Saúl Escobar was sentenced to 48 years in prison and Mauricio Mora was acquitted of all charges of insufficient evidence.[7][10]

In March 2020, the Supreme Court of Honduras overturned Bonilla's conviction and ordered a new trial.[11] During that time she appealed her case and Bonilla tried to assume her innocence, but the trial that was set for March 17, 2022. The date of the trial on March 17, 2022, the Supreme Court of Honduras found her guilty on one count of continuous fraud and misappropriation as an author.[12] On September 20, 2022, a Honduran court sentenced Rosa Bonilla to 14 years in prison on charges of fraud and misappropriation of funds destined for social programs. She spent some 12.2 million lempiras (then worth around $590,000) meant for low-income children on personal credit card payments, her children's school fees and real estate construction, according to the public ministry.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Rosa Elena Bonilla, First Lady of Honduras Latribuna.hn Retrieved and Translated on 2013-12-28.
  2. ↑ Biography of Rosa presidencia.gob.hn (Spanish) Retrieved on 2013-12-28.
  3. ↑ Lobo's Portfolio in Spanish cidob.org (Spanish) Retrieved on 2013-12-28.
  4. ↑ Porfirio and Rosa's family archivo.laprensa.hn (Spanish) Retrieved on 2013-12-28.
  5. ↑ "Detienen a Rosa Elena Bonilla de Lobo, ex primera dama de Honduras". CNN (in European Spanish). 28 February 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Ratifican prisión preventiva para Rosa Elena Bonilla de Lobo por caso 'Caja chica de La Dama'". Diario El Heraldo (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  7. 1 2 de 2019, 6 de Septiembre. "Condenaron a 58 años de cárcel a Rosa Elena Bonilla, ex primera dama de Honduras". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 15 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Former first lady of Honduras sentenced to 58 years in jail". Reuters. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  9. ↑ "Caso Caja Chica de la Dama: Rosa Elena de Lobo pasará 58 años en prisión". Diario La Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  10. ↑ "Honduras' ex-first lady convicted of fraud, embezzlement", ABC News.com.go, 20 August 2019, retrieved 20 August 2019
  11. ↑ "Honduras court overturns 58-year sentence for ex-first lady". AP NEWS. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  12. ↑ seguir, Redacción Web Autor marcado para. "Declaran culpable a la ex primera dama Rosa Elena de Lobo en repetición de juicio". www.laprensa.hn (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  13. ↑ "First lady gets 14 years in prison", Reuters, September 21, 2022
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