Six other senior officials and lawmakers with Chaves’s party, including first vice-president Stephan Brunner and foreign minister Arnoldo Andre, face the same allegation, the public prosecutor’s office said.

It said prosecutors had filed an indictment with the Supreme Court seeking to try the seven accused for alleged “crimes related to illicit political financing”.

Chaves accuses the public prosecutor’s office, the Supreme Court and congress of blocking his policy initiatives.

Their heads accuse the 64-year-old leader of authoritarian tendencies.

According to prosecutors, Chaves’s Social Democratic Progress Party illegally used a private trust and the personal bank accounts of a woman identified only by her family name, Aguero, to finance the 2022 campaign.

The high court will now decide whether to ask congress to remove the accused officials’ constitutional immunity so they can be tried.

If convicted, they could face prison sentences of between two and four years.

Chaves defeated centrist former president Jose Maria Figueres in 2022 and began a four-year mandate focused on reinvigorating the Central American nation’s struggling economy.

He is not allowed to seek a second consecutive term, but politicians close to him have not ruled out his seeking a seat in congress in 2026.