Nicaragua Charges Local Owner of Miss Universe Franchise With Treason, Organized Crime

MEXICO CITY—Nicaragua’s government charged the owner of the local Miss Universe franchise with treason, organized crime and inciting hatred as part of a plot to overthrow President Daniel Ortega’s regime two weeks after the country’s first victory in the pageant.

Nicaraguan police accused the contest’s local organizer, Karen Celebertti, a past beauty queen and owner of a modeling agency, her husband and son of rigging contests so that antigovernment winners would emerge at the pageants.