In the 2021 annual report, which reflects the economic evolution of the country according to data from the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN), the name of businessman Leonardo Manuel Torres Céspedes appears, who is listed as a member of the board of directors of that financial entity. Regarding Torres, it was said that “he had fallen into disgrace” due to the outlawing of two associations that he directed.
The publication indicates that Torres still holds that position, despite the fact that the Nicaraguan regime accused him of violating the Law against money laundering and therefore ordered the cancellation of the legal personality of the Association. Hispanic college (Uhispam) and the Nicaraguan Council of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Conimipyme), both directed by the BCN representative.
Related news: Nicaraguan dictatorship orders the closure of Conimipyme and Uhispam, linked to Leonardo Torres
In mid-November 2021, it was reported that Leonardo Torres was not allowed to leave Nicaragua. Immigration and Immigration officials took his passport from him at the Managua airport. He to date he has not given his version of events. With this, the businessman joined the list of government officials and opponents that the dictatorship has declared a de facto immigration restriction.
In 2018, Torres was appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Nicaragua to replace José Adán Aguerri, then president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep) and current political prisoner of the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo directed, through the Ministry of the Interior (Migob), the cancellation of the legal personality of the associations. According to the Migob, the two entities allegedly violated the Law against money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and to Law 147, General Law on Non-Profit Legal Entities.
Related news: Businessman Leonardo Torres says that Nicaraguans “have to learn to live with the coronavirus”
The law initiative for the decree of cancellation of legal entities, indicated that Uhispam and Conimipyme were headless since March 1 of this year, they have not reported their financial statements for the year 2020 with their income, expenses, balance of detailed breakdowns verification, origin and beneficiary.
The businessman has minimized the loss of jobs in the country and the closure of companies in statements to official media, in addition to praising the handling of the pandemic by the dictatorship.
