Former Salvadoran president sent to jail to await trial

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2004 file photo, former President of El Salvador Francisco Flores makes an announcement at the Casa Presidencial in San Salvador, El Salvador. The ex-president, who was under house arrest awaiting his trial, was removed from his home in San Salvador, Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, and taken to jail where he will remain until the start of his trial. Flores is facing embezzlement and illicit enrichment charges. (AP Photo/Luis Romero, File)

A special police unit in El Salvador has moved a former president to prison to await trial on charges of embezzlement and illicit enrichment.

Police assistant director Howard Cotto said Friday that a judge revoked former President Francisco Flores' house arrest and ordered him to be held in prison.

Flores was taken to a prison in the capital of San Salvador on Thursday.

Flores is accused of embezzling $5.3 million while president. He is also charged with mismanaging $10 million that was donated to El Salvador by Taiwan's government during his presidency in 1999-2004.

He has said he received the money personally from Taiwan and handed it over to the intended state projects, but he has offered no proof of the transfer.