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US officials stop vessel carrying cocaine off Panama coast

By The Associated Press

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Dec 12, 2017, 1:33 PM ET

U.S. officials intercepted a semi-submersible vessel carrying more than 3,800 pounds (1,700 kilograms) of cocaine last month after pursuing it in international waters off the coast of Panama.

Customs and Border Protection says the U.S. Coast Guard stopped the vessel Nov. 13. The three crew members were arrested.

Officials say such semi-submersible vessels are designed to navigate low in the water to avoid detection.

Officials say a Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations crew in an aircraft tracked the vessel and coordinated with Joint Interagency Task Force-South to intercept it.

National Air Security Operations Center-Corpus Christi Director Allen Durham says "the drug cartels are relentless and extremely innovative."

Air and Marine Operations operates maritime patrol aircraft from Corpus Christi, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-officials-stop-vessel-carrying-cocaine-off-panama-51742909

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American tourist killed in  Boquete park accident

Posted on December 22, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 393

 

American  Bruce Henry Wenrig, 61,   became the only person to die in Chiriqui’s mountain parks in 2017 after suffering a fall in the Loma de Los Lamentos, on Thursday, December  21.

The accident happened at  1:38 in the afternoon, at the Los Quetzales International Park exit in Alto Chiquero, Boquete district.

Emergency services received a call from the guide Plinio Montenegro, saying that after leaving the path the visitor looked back, slipped and fell on his back hitting his skull.

The guide gave him first aid and left to bring help.

Rescuers of the National Civil Protection System (Sinaproc) and the Fire Department moved to the site but Wenrig was already without vital signs.

El Siglo reports that he was on a hiking trip with his son Aron Wenrig, 25, Both are natives of New Jerse City in the United States.y

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/american-tourist-killed-boquete-park-accident

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Death threats for  disappeared  auditor’s son

Posted on December 22, 2017 in Panama

 

Daughter son and wife of disappeared man

Post Views: 182

 

Five years after the unsolved disappearance of the man whose investigations first uncovered suspicious activity at the now defunct  Financial Pacific (FP) brokerage, his son has again received death threats.

Vernon Ramos, deputy director of Investigations of the Superintendency of the Panama Stock Market, was near the end of an audit of the scandal-plagued company whose founders and staff are currently the targets of multiple criminal investigations.

In the murky background of the company are allegations of a secret “High Spirit” account of ex-president,  Ricardo Martinelli, used to manipulate shares of Petaquilla mines on the Toronto  and New York Stock markets, a stabbing in Parque Urraca of another investigator, the jailing  following a guilty plea of a former supervisor of   the disappeared man, and the involvement of over a dozen members of the Martinelli inner circle in a fraudulent loan from the Caja de Ahorros which wound up in FP.

Sabina Ho. wife of the disappeared man said on Telemetro that her son Vernon Michael Ramos has received strong death threats through social networks.

She said the latest threat came through the Instagram platform.

Sabina added that it is the second time that they have been victims of this type of threat and with little response from the authorities will take their own steps to trace the sender

Vernon Ramos left his home in Chanis on the afternoon of  November 15, 2012, for a walk. He was dressed in shorts and a sports shirt and has never been seen since. At one time a prisoner in La Joya prison claimed to have knowledge of a murder plot.

The Office of the Prosecutor against Organized Crime reported that it will proceed to investigate the latest threats say   local med

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/death-threats-disappeared-auditors-son

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Drunk drivers attack cop and rescue worker

Posted on December 22, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 256

DRUNK drivers have attacked police and emergency medical personnel in the closing days of the week leading up to Christmas.

The director of the fire department, Colonel Jaime Villar, said that a firefighter belonging to the Emergency and Rescue (Samer), had to be transferred to hospital after being assaulted by a man traveling in one of three vehicles involved in an accident in Río Abajo. “It is presumed that he was under the effects of alcohol “, he said.

“This should not happen because we are there to safeguard lives, not to receive injuries from the person that we are attending, “said Villar.

Ismael Herrera, director of Police Traffic Operations of the Police, reported that a driver who had assaulted a traffic agent in the South Corridor had been arrested

The driver, said Herrera, had collided with another vehicle driven by a woman and fled the scene.

The transit officer followed on a motorcycle and found the runaway, in the middle of heavy traffic on the corridor. The officer asked him to park on the shoulder. When he began to perform a breathalyzer test the driver started throwing punches, Herrera said.

He was arrested for assaulting the agent and for “driving under the influence” He had a reading above .70 according to radio reports.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/drunk-drivers-attack-cop-rescue-worker

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Comptroller Under Gun Over Deputy Audits

Posted on December 22, 2017 in Panama

 

Federico Humbert

Post Views: 106

Transparency  International (TI) is on the tail of Panama’s Comptroller General, Federico Humbert to discover what has happened to an audit that began in the National Assembly eight month ago.

Lina Vega Abad, President of – the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom, the Panama chapter of TI has sent a letter to the Comptroller  reminding him that investigations by The Public Prosecutor’s Office of donations and subsidies, were dismissed “due to the absence of the corresponding audits of the Comptroller General that, obviously, are the fundamental pieces of the process “.

Last April, an investigation by La Prensa documented that The Assembly distributed $14 million in donations that, mostly did not end up with the original beneficiary, as well as $68 million in contracts for professional services for jobs that almost never took place.

The monies were distributed between July 2014 and March 3, 2017, during the presidencies of the deputies Adolfo Valderrama (2014-2015) and Rubén De León (2015-2017).

“The fight against corruption and the abuse of power requires the commitment of all; from the State institutions and the organizations of civil society. We all have a role to play to preserve democracy and institutions, “writes Vega Abad in her note to Humbert.

On April 20, 2017, the Foundation filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor, against five officers of the Assembly and one of the Office of the Comptroller General for the alleged commission of the crime of embezzlement.

In September, the Second Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office requested a provisional dismissal, because of the lack of corresponding audits.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/ti-puts-comptroller-gun-deputy-audits

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Panama: Value of New Constructions Up 11%

Between January and October, the cost of new construction, additions and repairs totaled $1.8 billion, 11% more than was reported in the same period in 2016.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

The most recent figures from the Comptroller General of the Republic show that the highest value of new constructions, additions and repairs was registered in the province of Panama, with a total of $1.308 billion. They were followed by David, Chitré, Santiago, Aguadulce and La Chorrera, with $246 million.

See also "Construction in the Region: The Most Important Projects in 2017"

Regarding the type of construction, the highest value was recorded by residential projects, with a total of $1.154 billion, followed by non-residential projects, with $654 million.

See statistics by the Controlaria.

https://www.centralamericadata.com/en/article/main/Panama_Value_of_New_Constructions_Up_11

Moderator comment: Am I correct in thinking this news article is saying the generation plant being built in Colón is now shut down? What is the real story here?

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Backwards Step for 670 MW Gas Plant

The National Public Services Authority has canceled the license it had granted to the Panama NG Power to build and operate a thermoelectric generation plant in Colón, Panama.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Ending a process that lasted more than seven years, the National Public Services Authority has permanently canceled the license that had granted to Panama NG Power S.A. to build a thermoelectric plant with an installed capacity of 670 MW.

Read the history of this process here, starting from 2011 when a provisional license was granted to Panama NG Power S.A., for the first time, through the call for tenders to generate energy based on natural gas in 2013 and the difficulties the company experienced in complying with the deadlines required by the ASEP during the process.

From the resolution given by the ASEP on December 6, 2017:

IT IS RESOLVED: 

FIRST: DECLARE that the company PANAMA NG POWER, S.A., did not comply with the provisions of Resolution Three of Resolution AN No.10381-Elec of August 31, 2016, by which Resolution Two of Resolution AN No.7333 was modified -Elec of May 6, 2014, modified by Resolution AN No. 7369-Elec of May 21, 2014, regarding the presentation of the Financial Closing for the construction and operation of the thermal generation with natural gas project, to generate electricity, called TELFERS, on October 13, 2017.

See full resolution by the ASEP. (In Spanish)

https://www.centralamericadata.com/en/article/main/U_Turn_Over_for_670_MW_Gas_Plant

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Pain of  1989 US Invasion remembered

Posted on December 21, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 248

The 28^th anniversary of the US invasion of Panama was marked on Wednesday, December 20 with official ceremonies, demonstrations at the US Embassy, and a march from Chorillo to the National Assembly by relatives of the up to 5000 victims.

A common thread ran through all the events. A renewed  call  for December 20  to be  declared  a National Day of Grief and the need to clarify the events, especially the official number of Panamanians killed during the bombings which started at  midnight,

US Embassy protest

The Union of Construction and Associated  Workers (Suntracs) and the National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights (Frenadeso) held a picket in front of the United States Embassy in Clayton, which was guarded by a police cordon.

The Foreign Ministry paid a ‘tribute’ to the victims of the invasion whose remains are buried in the Garden of Peace. The official acts were led by the Chancellor and Vice president, Isabel de Saint Malo, and Security Minister, Alexis Bethancourt.

At the University of Panama, the December 20  Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ombudsman’s Office with the aim of “collaborating effectively” in the clarification of the facts and having ‘full knowledge’ of the number and identity of the victims.

The December 20 Commission was created by the Government and its main purpose is to achieve an official registry of the victims with figures ranging from 500 to 5000, Panamanian deaths, thousands injured and 20,000 losing their homes as Chorillo burned. There were 27 US military deaths.

The commission is working to identify the human remains found in mass graves and in custody of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences where they have begun the DNA analysis of the relatives that will be compared with those of the bone remains.

The commemoration  ceremonies ended  a march from El Chorrillo to the National Assembly.organized by relatives of the victims and various labor and student organizations

“The relatives still feel this pain, there is no December that people do not remember that disastrous invasion, even those who applauded it also talk about it,” said Trinidad Ayola, president of the Association of Relatives and Friends of the Fallen of December 20.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/pain-1989-us-invasion-remembered

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Killed Canadian pilot was US bound

Posted on December 21, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 402

THE CANADIAN pilot who died shortly after taking off from Marcos A. Gelabert Airport, in Albrook on Wednesday. December 20 had more than 50 years flying experience.

 Ronald Simard, was heading for the United States to sell the experimental plane when he lost control at some 20 feet off the ground say media reports.

In videos circulating on social networks, the plane can be seen making several turns before Ronald Simard,  lost control, diving to the ground where the impact scattered parts across the runway.

Emergency crews rushed to the site but the pilot was already dead.

Civil Aviation Authority, officials confirmed that experts in aerial accidents investigation are analyzing the causes of the mishap.

Simard, an engineer, originally from Saskatchewan retired with his wife to Chame, Panama West.  eight years ago. His shared recreational passions were small planes, flying and racing cars say Canadian media reports.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/killed-canadian-pilot-us-bound

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Gas prices down for holiday season

Posted on December 21, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 116

MOTORISTS using gasoline will get some seasonal cheer on Friday, Dec 22, that will carry them through   Christmas and into the new year with a fall in prices at the pump.

91  octane gasoline will drop 13 cents per liter and 91 octane gasoline will drop 15 cents per liter.

The SNE says that in the provinces of Panama and Colon 91-octane gasoline will be 0.769 a liter and 91-octane 0.748  per liter Meanwhile,  Santa has not been so kind to diesel users with ultra-low sulfur diesel rising  3 cents a  per liter.

Prices will remain in effect in Panama and Colon provinces until January 5.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/gas-prices-holiday-season

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Blackmail, threats clientelism in judges’ debate

Posted on December 21, 2017 in Panama

Former president, Ernesto Balladares

Post Views: 147

 

BLACKMAIL and threats have become part of what should be a sober and considered review by Panama lawmakers of the two candidates whose names have been put forward to replace two retiring Supreme Court Judges.

The opinion comes from former  president Ernesto Pérez Balladares  who spoke to media on Thursday, December 21 a day on which many opposition deputies failed  to put in an appearance at the National Assembly where they were to vet Ana Lucrecia Tovar and Zuleyka Moore for their role as magistrates of the Court. The PRD Balladares’ own party has instructed its Assembly caucus to reject the nominees, sight unseen.

Balladares said that the way judges are chosen has to be modified.

If “clientelism” rules negotiations will continue in the face of money or threats until the deputies comply with the purposes of the Executive, he said.

The current problem is not the candidates since he considers that they are capable people, but how the candidates are chosen.

He said that maybe we should add more filters for the election, which includes the participation of lawyers’ associations and that the power must be taken away from the President of the Republic, to make his own uninhibited picks.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/blackmail-threats-clientelism-judges-debate

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MEDIA WATCH: Panama’s corruption conundrum

Posted on December 21, 2017 in Media Watch, Opinion, Panama

 

Demonstration at Supreme Court

Post Views: 169

 

A year ago, the US Department of Justice announced a judicial agreement with Odebrecht, in which the company pleaded guilty to paying bribes in Africa and America, including $59 million in Panama.

The recognized bribe went up to almost $90 million and, although the case is stuck in an appeal for breaking the Gordian knot imposed by Judge Lania Batista, judicial assistance and journalistic investigations

continue. Today we know that the ruling party received millions from Odebrecht, but the process to find out more is paralyzed in a court. On the other hand, the delaying tactics of the defenders impede the progress of the process and to this is added the complicity of judges and magistrates who with their failures – many based on mere formalities – they bury emblematic cases of corruption.

The worst thing is that, despite what we know, nothing is done to change things. The Public Contracting Law Public is still intact, and this allows corrupt companies to continue participating in bids. Already

we will see how deep they are entrenched with the biggest local corruption scandal, the Panama Lava Jato… LA PRENSA Dec.21

http://www.newsroompanama.com/features/media-watch/media-watch-panamas-corruption-conundrum

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Pilot killed in Albrook Airport  crash

Posted on December 20, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 496

THE PILOT of a small plane died in an accident shortly after takeoff at 1.24 pm at Marcos A Gelabert Airport in Albrook.on Wednesday, December 20.

The director of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, Alfredo Fonseca Mora, said that the air accident occurred in an experimental aircraft.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/pilot-killed-albrook-airport-crash

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Panama teacher reaches Everest base camp

Posted on December 20, 2017 in Panama

 

Desiree Denise Rosario on Everest

Post Views: 146

A 3O-YEAR-OLD Panamanian science teacher became,  the first Panamanian woman to climb to Mt Everest base camp at 5,630 meters above sea level on Tuesday, December 19.

Desirée Denise Del Rosario, who teaches at Panama’s Oxford School and hails from Rio Grande, Cocle, arrived at 6 a.m  Panama time, after an eight-day arduous 60 km trek through the Himalayan mountain range to reach the highest mountain on earth.

She left  Panama City on Dec,8 for  Kathmandu, capital of Nepal via Brazil, and  Dubai and then by small plane to Lukla, a small town in the Himalayas

On Dec. 11 she began the final leg her odyssey.

“It took me 10 days, climbing mountains,  where the cold oscillates between 5 ° and -15C  and the rivers freeze,” she told La Prensa via WhatsApp.

Her 55-litre backpack carried bottles of water,  mountain food, windbreakers, chocolate bars, medicine cabinet,  ropes … and the Panama flag.

Carbohydrates a staple for mountaineers (bread, rice, noodles, and liquids like soups and energy drinks were in shelters  on the route)

De Rosario has been mountaineering since she was  16 years old when she represented Panama on the Ruta Quetzal and has climbed volcanoes in Mexico; the Sierra Morena and the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and climbs mountains and explore trails, inside and outside of  Panama. “The trek through the Himalayas to the base camp of Everest is a dream for mountaineers… The mountains teach and inspire,” she said

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/panama-teacher-reaches-everest-base-camp

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OPINION: Sweetheart plea deal ignites alarms

Posted on December 19, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 170

The effective collaboration agreement of Rafael Guardia Jaén raised the rejection of the citizenship because It involved the return of goods suspected of having been purchased with public funds. Now the beneficiary of the agreement has agreed to deliver this patrimony to the State, to silence the controversy and take advantage of this favorable opportunity. However, prosecutors agreed to eliminate 15 criminal proceedings they had against Guardia Jaén, in exchange for his participation as a witness against the others involved in these crimes, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office even undertakes not to investigate any other possible offense derived from its management in the National Aid Program. This overwhelming generosity ignites all the alarms about the subject. While in Brazil or the United States the penalties are reduced according to the effective collaboration, in Panama, the reduction of a sentence precedes cooperation. Could it be that the Public Ministry has all the causes investigated and delimited to make this offer? The example of the Guardia Jaén agreement demonstrates what we still have to learn to do justice in complex cases …LA PRENSA, Dec 19

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/opinion-sweetheart-plea-deal-ignites-alarms

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Seven car theft gangs dismantled

Posted on December 19, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 200

SEVEN gangs devoted to the theft and re-selling  of automobiles have been broken up by the National Police and the Public Ministry (MP) during 2017.

Some  90 people have been captured, and are awaiting trial and 502 vehicles have been recovered said Deputy Commissioner Hector Wong of the Judicial Investigation Directorate on Monday, December 18.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/seven-car-theft-gangs-dismantled

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Jailbird  “Prince” Odebrecht moves to house arrest

Posted on December 19, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 159

BILLIONAIRE  tycoon Marcelo Odebrecht, known as “The Prince” and center of the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Latin America, which has shaken governments throughout the region headed for home on Tuesday, Dec. 19 from the Brazilian jail cell he has occupied since his arrest in June 2015.

He left the prison in Curitiba after purging a 10-year sentence to move to house arrest reports the AFP news agency.

Odebrecht, 49,  was transferred in an escorted black 4×4, with a  stop on the way escort, to the court where an electronic anklet was attached.

From there he was expected to go to his home in Sao Paulo where he will only be able to leave on rare occasions and receive a limited number of visits.

Nicknamed The Prince, Marcelo Odebrecht led the largest construction company in Latin America, responsible for works throughout the world, from the stadium of the Miami Heat basketball team to hydroelectric plants in Angola with frequent stops in Panama to fulfil billions of dollars in contracts from various administrations.

He is the grandson of the founder and third generation of a group of presidents who formed a conglomerate with activities in other sectors, such as engineering, agriculture and petrochemicals.

The collapse began on June 19, 2015, when Odebrecht was arrested, in the Lava Jato investigation, accused of paying bribes to dozens of leaders of all political shades to obtain contracts in the state Petrobras.

After resisting a hail of accusations, for almost two years, the group agreed to reveal their crimes to soften sentences and enable the company to survive.survive.

Some, 77 executives and managers signed an agreement and reported in detail the gears of corruption and  Marcelo was able to reduce thanks to that to 10 years his initial sentence, of more than 19 years in prison.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/jailbird-prince-odebrecht-moves-house-arrest

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Plea deal lets embezzler off $55 million hook

Posted on December 19, 2017 in Panama

 

Rafael Guardia Jaen

Post Views: 181

The penalty agreement between the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor and the former head of the National Assistance Program (PAN), Rafael Guardia Jaén. exempts him from 15 criminal investigations.

According to the agreement, the anti-corruption prosecutors agree not to accuse Guardia  Jaén of crimes against the public administration and other criminal offences, totaling multi-millions of dollars that were filed in those cases or accuse him In  cases that may arise because of his  role as director of the PAN between 2012 and 2014, reports La Prensa.

The agreement is not firm, because the prosecution is appealing  the decision of the fifteenth criminal judge, Leslie Loaiza, to return several assets and accounts to Guardia Jaén,

On Monday, Dec. 18, through his lawyer, Víctor Orobio, a document in which he makes available to the prosecution the goods and money that the judge was released.

Orobio said his client took the step because of criticism of Loaiza’s decision.

the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that, despite the statement of Guardia Jaén, it will continue with the appeal of the property returned by the judge.

At least $4.4 million dollars from the (PAN) that Guardia  Jaén transferred to banks abroad have not yet been recovered by the Public Ministry.

This is confirmed in the penalty agreement signed between Guardia Jaén and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, says La Prensa.

Guardia Jaén promised to return about $ 4.4 million that was remitted to banks abroad according to the document, the prosecution requested international assistance for the location and apprehension of these monies, which, mainly, were remitted to banks in the Bahamas.

“It is understood that monies that were transferred abroad […] will be subject to confiscation by the State, once this penalty agreement is executed, “the document states.

The possible damage to the State’s equity -calculated by the Office of the Comptroller General is at least $54.7 million. in 8 of the 15 cases in which the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) commits not to accuse the former head of the PAN .

The penalty agreement establishes that “the anticorruption discharge prosecutor’s offices agree not to accuse Rafael Guardia Jaén of the charges against the public administration and other criminal types that were formulated “in 15 criminal proceedings.

With this agreement, Guardia Jaén would be sentenced to a prison sentence of five years and is forced to return about $30 million in assets and bank accounts apprehended by the Public Ministry.

The agreement between the prosecutor’s office and Guardia Jaén was submitted to an approval hearing on  Dec.13 before Judge,  Loaiza.

In that hearing, when dictating the accessory punishment, Loaiza decided to return to Guardia Jaén six  bank accounts totaling about $ 100,000, three vehicles, including a Porsche Cayenne; two apartments, plus a mansion in Costa Del Este, valued at $940,000.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/plea-deal-lets-embezzler-off-55-million-hook

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Smart lawyer or sloppy court?

Posted on December 18, 2017 in Panama

 

Kevin Moncada and Mayte Pellegrinii

Post Views: 213

THE PRELIMINARY  hearing for the Financial Pacific case, rescheduled for Monday, December 18 was suspended once again leaving observers to question whether it has become another case of manipulation of the justice system by defense lawyers attempting to shield clients or sloppy court work.

Kevin Moncada, attorney for Mayte Pellegrini.filed an Amparo of guarantees for alleged wrongful procedure with the signature of an “Assistant”, instead of a judge . in a resolution issued by the Second Criminal Court.

In the brief, Pellegrini requests – through her lawyer Kevin Moncada – that the resolution be revoked, as it violates due process, as it was adopted by Esther María Bosquez Núñez, who holds the interim position of assistant judge.

According to Pellegrini’s defense, as the judge is not listed as such, everything that has been done is invalid.

The original hearing should have been held on October 2 but was suspended, because Carlos Pellegrini [brother of Mayte] and one of the linked lawyers were not present. Pellegrini alleged at the time, that the court did not notify her brother’s lawyer

The hearing was rescheduled to be held between December 18 and 21. The alternate date would be from January 15 to 18.

Thirteen 13 people are indicted for the alleged commission of a crime against the economic order to the detriment of the Financial Pacific brokerage.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/smart-lawyer-sloppy-court

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Minor  driving bus kills 3 injures 7

Posted on December 18, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 294

A 30-year-old woman and two brothers aged two and five were killed and seven passengers injured, including the mother of the boys. when  a busito, driven by  an underaged driver  plunged into  a ditch on Sunday, Dec.17, at midnight,

The victims were all members of the community of Miguel de la Borda where the bus was heading when the driver lost control.

The injured were transferred to the emergency room of the hospital, Manuel Amador Guerrero. where several remain in critical condition.

A few hours earlier a  man was killed in Las Perlas de Volcana few meters from an overhead pedestrian walkway on Avenida José Agustín Arango.

The four deaths bring the total on Panama roads this year to 397.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/minor-driving-bus-kills-3-injures-7

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Convicted embezzler returns assets

Posted on December 18, 2017 in Panama

 

Lawyer Victor Orrobio

Post Views: 213

WITH AN APPEAL, against the return of millionaire lifestyle assets on  its way to  a  higher court the convicted  ex-director of the now defunct National Assistance Program (PAN), Rafael Guardia Jaén, has reacted to the public outcry and made available to the Public Ministry the assets that were not confiscated by the Fifteenth Court in the validation of the penalty agreement.

There are six bank accounts, three apartments, three vehicles, including the near $1 million mansion in  Costa del Este, which will now be transferred to the State’s assets.

“I offer my apologies to the country for what I considered it was my right to try to recover what I had obtained with my personal effort during all the years of work outside the Government and my duty to deliver what was wrong, but I understand the national dissatisfaction and for that reason I have taken this step “, said Guardia Jaén in an official notice that was announced  by his  lawyer Víctor Orobio, who has also come under fire.

The lawyer formalized the return of the assets before the Prosecutor’s Office so that they can be delivered to the judge. Guardia Jaén and the Prosecutor’s Office reached an agreement of five years in prison for the crimes of money laundering and embezzlement in the case of the purchase of grain through the PAN. Of the five years, Guardia has served three years since his arrest. Reports La Estrella

Civil society leaders had described his retention of the mansion and other assets as proof that “crime pays”

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/convicted-embezzler-returns-assets

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Money launderer gets Colon praise and 27 months

Posted on December 18, 2017 in Panama

 

Nidal Waked, praised for charity work
Post Views: 215

After pleading guilty to conspiracy to launder  drug money in Florida and Panama, a Panamanian businessman for whom prosecutors had originally asked for a 50-year sentence, got  27 months and  three years supervised release

The sentence on Nidal Waked.47 was announced on Monday, Dec. 18 December in a hearing before Judge Robert Scola, of the Court of the Southern District of Florida, is less even than that previously requested by his defense.

The judge acknowledged the time that Waked was imprisoned in, Bogotá, where he was arrested on May 4, 2016, by agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Scola called a hearing on March 8 to review the assets and money, proceeds of crime, which Waked must return to the US government.

On October 19, Waked pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder  money between 2000 and  2009, the  product of drug trafficking Originally, the prosecution requested up to 50 years in prison -20 for laundering money and 30 for bank fraud-, so the agreement agreed already represents a “significant benefit” for the accused said the judge.

In his confession, Waked acknowledged that the judge could impose a sentence of up to 10 years But in a brief that his lawyers sent to the Court on December 14, the

defense appealed to the suffering that the process has caused to Waked and his family, from his

detention in Colombia, on May 4, 2016, by agents of the DEA. Also that he is an immigrant who has made great contributions to the province of Colon, where an avenue even bears his name- and they sent photographs of his wife and children, including with deputy Yanibel Ábrego, current president of the National Assembly. His wife and three children – all minors – also wrote notes to the judge. Representatives of foundations and churches followed suit

The prosecution replied that the situation of Waked and his family is similar to that of countless detainees, “and is the direct result of his decision to participate in criminal activities criminals for a prolonged period of time. ”

The prosecution also noted that the social work developed by Waked in Colón should not be valued by the judge. “Given its extraordinary wealth [the family was a distributor for Centro and

South America and the Caribbean brands such as Maytag, Black & Decker and Samsung], there are no signs that his charitable contributions were so great as to represent a sacrifice on his part,” said the prosecutors  in a brief presented on December 15, reports La Prensa

They agreed to recognize the time Waked remained in Bogota’s Pillory prison -from May 2016 to January 2017- before being extradited to Miami, but did not consider that the supposed “bad” conditions of the  prison should be a factor in

Decreasing the sentence. They also recalled that almost half of the time he stayed in La Picota, was thanks to the appeal filed in Colombian courts, to prevent his delivery to the United States.

To strengthen its request, the defense – which alleged that his client has lost up to 70 pounds and in Colombia he shared a cell with a man convicted of raping 60 women- quoted as an example that the judge William Hoeveler subtracted 20 years to the sentence of the ex-General Manuel Antonio Noriega, for having remained nine years in solitary confinement.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/money-launderer-gets-colon-praise-27-months

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New electric explosions close health center

Posted on December 18, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 202

For the second time in four months, the Social Security (CSS)  Policlínica Presidente Remón on Calle 17 in Santa Ana had to be evacuated and closed following electric explosions of nearby underground cables.

The latest incident was on  Monday, December 18, and this time no injuries were reported

Angel Delgado, of the Panama Fire Department, said that after the explosion smoke was emanating from underground near the clinic and it was decided to evacuate and close the facilities.

The CSS said that the suspension of medical and administrative activities was ordered for the rest of the day. Patients with appointments will be rescheduled.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/new-electric-explosions-close-health-center

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Panama: $62 million for Tourism Works

The Ministry of Environment has announced that using IADB funds, the infrastructure of four protected areas in the provinces of Veraguas, Colón and Chiriquí will be renovated.

Friday, December 15, 2017

According to the Environment Minister, Emilio Sempris, most of the funds will be invested in the Coiba de Veraguas National Park, which will be allocated about $27 million for the "construction and renovation of visitor sites, trails and the site's administrative centers."

The Parks Portobelo and Bosque Protector de San Lorenzo, both in the province of Colón, will be allocated approximately $21 million for the "construction of docks, renovation of sites, visit centers, among other works." Other approved funds totaling the $62 million will be used in buildings in the Volcán Barú park in Chiriquí and in other complementary works in the other protected areas.

Prensa.com reports that "...These investments are aimed at attracting new markets and facilitating the creation of circuits to extend tourist's length of stay."

https://www.centralamericadata.com/en/article/main/Panama_62_million_for_Tourism_Works