Juan Pari sentenced to 22 years in prison for Banco Unión embezzlement

Nearly nine years after the Banco Unión embezzlement came to light, Juan Pari has been sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison.

A trial court ordered Pari to serve the sentence at Chonchocoro prison, prosecutor Walter Lora told reporters. Pari took part in Tuesday's hearing by video link from El Abra prison in Cochabamba, where he is currently held.

Pari was arrested in 2017 after investigators found that he had manipulated Banco Unión's computer system while serving as operations chief at the bank's Batallas and Achacachi branches. Investigators said he entered the system without authorization between 2016 and 2017 and simulated transfers to a nonexistent automated teller machine. The operation allegedly allowed him to take about 37.6 million bolivianos.

Prosecutors charged 17 people in the case. Alongside Pari, four others received prison sentences: one was given four years, two received three years, and another was sentenced to 10 years. The remaining 12 defendants were acquitted.

In his final statement, Pari apologized to the other defendants and regretted the effect the proceedings had on their lives. He said the others were innocent and that some had accepted responsibility they did not bear to end the case. "They had to accept guilt even though they were innocent, just to bring this process to an end," Pari said. He also acknowledged that he initially failed to understand the scale of the problem created by his actions.

Investigators said Pari tried to launder the money through real estate and luxury vehicles. They also linked the funds to travel, including private-plane rentals, and to businesses involving car rentals, construction, leather tanning, a nightclub, and a television channel. Tuesday's ruling closes the case at first instance.

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They had to accept guilt even though they were innocent, just to bring this process to an end.