Guatemala Prosecutors Raid 13 Properties Linked to Giammattei’s Former Aide
Guatemala · Justice
Key Facts
- —What happened Investigators searched 13 properties on Wednesday 23 September 2026 linked to the family and circle of Miguel Martínez.
- —Who he is Martínez ran the Centro de Gobierno, a powerful coordinating office under former president Alejandro Giammattei, who governed from 2020 to 2024.
- —The catch Nobody has been charged in this operation, and the Public Ministry said it was not seeking to arrest Martínez.
- —Who runs the prosecution service President Bernardo Arévalo appointed Gabriel Estuardo García Luna as attorney general in May 2026, replacing Consuelo Porras after eight years.
- —Why it matters Guatemala prosecutors have a new chief after eight years under Consuelo Porras, sanctioned by the United States and the European Union.
- —What the money looks like Guatemala uses the quetzal, worth about 7.63 to the US dollar, so Q10 million is roughly US$1.3 million.
Investigators spent Wednesday afternoon inside homes belonging to the family and circle of the man who ran Guatemala’s government machine. No charge against him has been announced.
Guatemala prosecutors searched 13 properties on Wednesday 23 September 2026 in a case that reaches the family and friends of Miguel Martínez. He was the right-hand man of former president Alejandro Giammattei.
The work was led by the Fiscalía contra el Crimen Organizado, the organised-crime unit of the Ministerio Público. That body is the country’s prosecution service, the MP, and it confirmed the unit’s role to Infobae.
The searches were not aimed at executing an arrest warrant against Martínez, the Public Ministry said, according to the Guatemalan outlet Publinews. It has given no official account of what the case is about.
Thirteen addresses in three departments
A supervising judge authorised the 13 searches, according to judicial sources quoted by the newspaper La Hora. Officers from the criminal investigation directorate and the national police took part.
Two addresses were in Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, in the department of Escuintla. Five more were in Sacatepéquez and six in Guatemala City.
One was a house in a gated development in Jocotenango, Sacatepéquez, where Martínez’s parents live, Prensa Libre and La Hora reported. Investigators carried away mobile telephones, USB devices and documents.
Two people are wanted on arrest warrants, the same judicial sources said. Neither their names nor the offences attributed to them have been released.
Prensa Libre carried one short line from the Public Ministry on Wednesday evening. “The proceedings are still under way and when they finish we will share a statement about it,” it said.
The man at the centre of it
Martínez headed the Centro de Gobierno, an office created at the start of Giammattei’s term to coordinate every ministry. Giammattei governed from January 2020 to January 2024.
The office was closed in December 2020 after criticism that it duplicated the vice-presidency. Martínez kept his standing anyway.
The United States Treasury later called him one of the most powerful unelected officials in that government.
On 1 December 2023 the United States Treasury sanctioned him under Executive Order 13818, which implements the Global Magnitsky law. The order blocks any property he holds in the United States and bars Americans from doing business with him.
Treasury named him as Luis Miguel Martínez Morales and called the Centro de Gobierno a quasi-cabinet level agency. It accused him of bribery schemes and of steering contracts outside Guatecompras, the state purchasing platform.
It also said he solicited large kickbacks to facilitate the purchase of Russian Sputnik V vaccines in 2021. Those are allegations by a foreign government, not findings of a Guatemalan court.
No charge, and no comment
Nobody has been charged in Wednesday’s operation, and no arrest warrant against Martínez has been reported. Guatemala prosecutors have not said whether he is treated as a suspect, a witness or neither.
None of the Guatemalan outlets that covered the searches carried a response from him or from his lawyer. He has answered earlier cases at length.
Asked in May 2025 about a separate asset-forfeiture case, he told Prensa Libre he welcomed the inquiry. He said it gave him the chance “to show the public that it is not true”.
He is also fighting the American sanction in court. A federal judge in Washington, Beryl Howell, upheld it in July 2026.
His lawyer Alexei Schacht appealed in August 2026 to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Prensa Libre reported that step on 28 August 2026.
A prosecution service under new management
The MP is now led by Gabriel Estuardo García Luna, a former appellate judge with a doctorate in law. President Bernardo Arévalo appointed him on 6 May 2026 for a term running to 2030.
He took over from María Consuelo Porras, in post since 2018. Guatemalans call the job fiscal general; in English, attorney general, the head of the prosecution service.
The United States put Porras on a list of corrupt and undemocratic actors in 2021 and revoked her visa. The European Union later imposed restrictions on her as well.
Arévalo said it would be hard to find a less suitable profile for the job than Porras. Porras left in May 2026 and told reporters in June she would keep practising law.
La Hora had been counting the days since Giammattei left office on 14 January 2024 with no investigation reported into Martínez. The tally reached 853 days by the end of Porras’s term in May 2026.
The Guatemalan news site Prensa Comunitaria reported in September that the MP has dropped cases against indigenous leaders and journalists. It said cooperation with United States prosecutors has resumed under García Luna.
Manfredo Marroquín, who founded the anti-corruption group Acción Ciudadana, told the site the clean-up was necessary but slow. He said the next phase should be dropping cases against former judges and prosecutors accused, in his words, on fabricated charges.
The contracts reporters have followed
Much of the published reporting circles one pharmaceutical company, La Botica S.A., linked by La Hora to a close friend of Martínez. No charge against the company has been reported.
Martínez has said such firms belong to friends and that he never held a stake. Using Guatecompras, La Hora counted awards of Q16.7 million to the company between 2015 and 2019, about US$2.2 million.
Between 2020 and 2023 the figure was Q547.9 million, about US$71.8 million. Three quarters of that later sum came from the social security institute, the newspaper said.
The quetzal stood at a rate of 7.63 to the US dollar on 24 September 2026, according to exchangerate-api.com. A court froze six of eight properties linked to him in May 2025, valued at Q10 million, about US$1.3 million.
Martínez says his family rented those homes and never owned them. Guatemala prosecutors have promised a statement once the searches are complete.
By early on Thursday 24 September 2026 the Public Ministry had not issued one.
More: Guatemala coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Miguel Martínez been charged with anything?
No. No charge or arrest warrant against him has been announced in this operation, and the Public Ministry said the searches were not aimed at arresting him. Guatemala prosecutors have not said whether he is a suspect, a witness or neither. Two unnamed people in his circle are wanted on warrants.
Who runs the prosecution service in Guatemala now?
Gabriel Estuardo García Luna, appointed attorney general by President Bernardo Arévalo on 6 May 2026 for a term to 2030. He replaced María Consuelo Porras, who held the post from 2018 until May 2026.
What was the Centro de Gobierno?
An office created at the start of Alejandro Giammattei’s presidency in 2020 to coordinate the work of every ministry. It was closed in December 2020 after criticism that it duplicated the role of the vice-presidency.
Why did the United States sanction Martínez?
The Treasury designated him on 1 December 2023 under the Global Magnitsky programme. It alleged bribery schemes, contracts awarded outside the Guatecompras system and kickbacks sought over the purchase of Sputnik V vaccines.
Sources: Prensa Libre on the searches and the Public Ministry statement, La Hora on the 13 addresses and the two arrest warrants, Infobae on the prosecuting unit and the United States court case, Publinews on the Public Ministry saying Martínez was not the target, United States Treasury on the 2023 sanction, Infobae on the appointment of the new attorney general, Infobae on the record and sanctioning of Consuelo Porras, Prensa Comunitaria on the first four months of the new attorney general, La Hora Time on Porras speaking to reporters in June 2026, Prensa Libre’s 2025 interview with Miguel Martínez, Prensa Libre on his appeal against the United States sanction
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