Overview
- Luis Arce was taken into custody in La Paz under a prosecutor’s order, with Vice President Edman Lara publicly confirming the arrest by the police anti‑corruption unit.
- Local reports say officers intercepted Arce in the Sopocachi area and moved him to FELCC headquarters, where he began giving a statement and did not resist.
- The case focuses on alleged irregular disbursements from Fondioc during Arce’s tenure as economy minister under Evo Morales, including transfers tied to former lawmaker Lidia Patty, who is detained.
- Audits dating back to 2015 documented hundreds of incomplete or phantom projects and later estimated losses exceeding US$182 million linked to Fondioc.
- Arce’s ally María Nela Prada denounced the operation as a “kidnapping,” while the new government highlights an anti‑corruption push after the recent transition; some early procedural details remained unconfirmed by police at first.