The Court Maintains Bernardo Meneses’s Arrest Warrant for Embezzlement; However he Remains in Custody on Another Charge

The Superior Court of Appeals on Monday rejected a request to place Bernardo Meneses, former director of the Institute for the Training and Utilization of Human Resources (Ifarhu), in provisional detention in his case for the alleged crime of embezzlement.  However, Meneses maintains the precautionary measure of preventive detention on charges of alleged unjustified enrichment.  Regarding the alleged embezzlement case, on September 29, 2025, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office failed in its attempt to have a judge impose the precautionary measure of preventive detention on Meneses. 

Meneses is facing legal proceedings for the alleged crimes of embezzlement, money laundering, and unjust enrichment. In this latest case, the former director of IFARHU was ordered to be placed in provisional detention; in the other two, he was given less severe precautionary measures, such as periodic notification and a ban on leaving the country.  On July 17, Superior Court of Appeals judges Greta Marchosky, Gustavo De Gracia, and Yiles Pitti ruled that the preventive detention measure imposed by a judge on June 8 was the most appropriate measure to keep him linked to the case. 

At that time, the decision by Judges Marchosky De Gracia and Pittí was based on the fact that the prosecution, in its investigation, had provided evidence linking Meneses to the alleged commission of the crime of unjust enrichment during his tenure as director of Ifarhu.  The judges determined that there was a risk of obstructing the collection of evidence related to the allocation of financial aid granted by the Ifarhu.  The judges also considered data provided by the prosecution, which details that Meneses made transfers amounting to $83,000 through the transfer system known as Yappy, and that some of these transfers involved people who were beneficiaries of financial aid.