Otto Perez Molina

One day after turning himself in following months on the run, Juan Carlos Monzon Rojas, Baldetti's former personal secretary, told judge during his initial court appearance that he was just following orders.

The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala confirmed that Monzon Rojas surrendered Sunday night. A Guatemala judge had set his initial hearing for early Monday. The hearing began with the playing of intercepted phone calls and later Monzon Rojas himself addressed the court.

Most are old-guard candidates picked to run before energized prosecutors backed by a mass anti-corruption movement toppled the previous administration. Many voters are so skeptical that they campaigned for the election itself to be postponed to give them a new crop of choices.

During a recess in court proceedings, Perez Molina told The Associated Press that during Guatemala's long civil war, rumors about a person could get him killed.

Spokesman Jorge Ortega said Perez Molina submitted his resignation at midnight Wednesday local time after a judge issued an order to detain him in the customs fraud case, which already has led to the jailing of his vice president, and the resignation of several cabinet ministers who withdrew their support for the president.

And the attorney general's office urged him to step down "to prevent ungovernability that could destabilize the nation."

The government comptrollers' office also issued a statement saying Perez Molina, whose government has been shaken by corruption scandals, should resign "to avoid greater social unrest that could have unpredictable consequences."