GUATEMALA CITY, (Reuters) – The United States has  requested the extradition of former Guatemalan President  Alfonso Portillo on money-laundering charges, authorities said  yesterday as they searched for him at several of his  properties.

Portillo, who also faces corruption charges in Guatemala,  was not at any of the locations searched by police, the  government said.

“The (extradition) request was approved by a court in  Guatemala on Friday,” Interior Ministry spokesman Nery Morales  told Reuters. “We are still looking for him.”

Portillo won office in 2000 promising to redistribute  wealth, but fled the country shortly after his four-year  presidential term ended in 2004 and spent the next four years  in Mexico.

He was extradited from Mexico to Guatemala in 2008 to face  charges he embezzled millions of dollars of public money during  his presidency.