Moderators Moderator_02 Posted November 3, 2018 Moderators Share Posted November 3, 2018 Quote Audit and criminal probe of sports funds linked to politicians Posted on November 1, 2018 in Panama Federico Humbert Post Views: 156 The Comptroller General will audit $14 millions of funds dispersed by the Panamanian Sports Institute (Pandeportes) over the last four years and the public prosecutor has opened an investigation. The Comptroller ‘s office said on Thursday, November 1 that it will also inspect the institutions, individuals, societies, and organizations that have managed public heritage funds. The move follows an investigation by La Prensa revealing that Pandeportes allegedly contributed funds to federations, leagues, and sports organizations linked to or chaired by politicians and deputies, between 2014 and 2017. In the closing months of President Varela’s term, the scandal has the whiff of similar insider deals during the Martin Martinelli administration. According to the reports delivered to the prosecutor and the comptroller, it is evident that companies linked to politicians that simulated competition to sell supplies to sports organizations were favored. However, the sports equipment was often not delivered. the Office of the Comptroller General said that the directors of Pandeportes were notified at the start of the audit and soon after the entity announced it too would carry out an audit The comptroller, Federico Humbert said that he assigned a team of auditors “that will review the management of funds of the entity and those resources transferred to the various sports federations.” “The Comptroller has the authority to audit all funds managed in any state institution, however, the law also allows auditing those management entities, whether individuals, associations or societies that have managed monies of public property,” said Humbert. The results of the audit will be sent to the Court of Auditors and the Public Ministry (MP). https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/audit-and-criminal-probe-of-sports-funds-linked-to-politicos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_02 Posted November 7, 2018 Author Moderators Share Posted November 7, 2018 Quote Assembly plunderers face new probes Posted on November 6, 2018 in Panama Post Views: 97 No sports organization in Panama will escape the upcoming audit by The Comptroller General, Federico Humbert , after revelations by La Prensa showed widespread plundering and funds transferred by Pandeportes – the government’s sports funding body- to regions where there were no leagues. The probe of the multi millions millionas funds that the Sports Institute allocated to the circuital parties of deputies will include all the sports federations and even the Panama Olympic Committee (COP ). Criminal probes will be pursued in tandem “The Constitution allows us that any entity or person who manages money from the State can be under the umbrella of the Comptroller, who has the obligation and ability to go to review what there was and what was not,” said Humbert during the November 5 civic commemoration ceremonies in the city of Colon. Humbert said that the audit of Pandeportes began last Friday and affirmed that it will be “steadfast and firm”, as was done with the communal boards and the National Assembly’s lists. An investigation by La Prensa revealed irregularities in the contribution of public funds that transferred Pandeportes to natural and legal persons, provincial sports leagues, federations and sports organizations from July 1, 2014 to May 31, 2017. Among the beneficiaries are Benicio Robinson , deputy of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD); Jair Peralta , linked to the Panamenista deputy Adolfo Valderrama ; Javier Ortega , of the PRD; Miguel Salas , of the Panameñista Party; and Franz Wever , general secretary of the Assembly, among others. The director of Pandeportes, Mario Pérez , said recently that the entity has the doors open for the comptroller to execute the audit. In addition to the Comptroller General’s Office, the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal investigation as a result of the anomalies denounced by La Prensa . https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/assembly-plunderers-face-new-probes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_02 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Moderators Share Posted November 13, 2018 Quote $30 million corruption probe underway at sports headquarters Posted on November 12, 2018 in Panama Post Views: 151 Anticorruption Prosecutor José Ayarza began an inspection of the facilities of the Panamanian Sports Institute (Pandeportes) HQ in Juan Díaz, on Monday, November 12 in relation to the investigation carried out by the Public Ministry of alleged irregularities in the transfer of $30 million to deputies federations and sports organizations across the country. Often the benefits were not seen but went to companies controlled by deputies. Ayarza was accompanied by the deputy director of Pandeportes, Alberto Guerra, and delivered the notification of the diligence addressed to Mario Pérez, director of the entity. The inspection is to review the procedure that was carried out in relation to the distributed funds. On November 1, the Office of the Comptroller General announced that it would conduct an “official” audit of the use of funds in the Pandeportes following a request from the Attorney General’s office when an investigation of Pandeportes was published by La Prensa. On November 10, the Comptroller General, Federico Humbert, revealed that Pandeportes had disbursed more than $30 million dollars since 2014 Humbert said that the National Directorate of General Auditing would perform the audit in order to “determine the correct or incorrectness of the operations that affect public patrimonies.” The La Prensa probe revealed that during the administration of Pandeportes, substantial contributions were made to the circuital parties of the deputies, who refuse to detail how they used the millions of dollars. The scandal threatens to throw a cloud over the final months Varela administration already facing strong criticism about its continuing links to Odebrecht which has received billions in contracts in spite of the construction company’s corruption history. The investigations also show that Pandeportes disbursed sports organizations at least $14 million, between May 2014 and May 2017. The Public Ministry reported that the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation of the case. on October 30. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/30-million-corruption-probe-underway-at-sports-hq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_02 Posted November 18, 2018 Author Moderators Share Posted November 18, 2018 Quote Athletes plan rally to protest vanishing funds Posted on November 17, 2018 in Panama Post Views: 68 A group of prominent Panama athletes, led by Diego Castillo and Juan Ramón Solís plan to lead a rally on the Cinta Costera on Wednesday, November 28 to demand “better days” for Panamanian sport following recent revelations of millions of dollars intended for support of athletes being misused by politicians. Castillo is the president of the commission of athletes of the Panama Olympic Committee and Solis is the president of the Panama Association of Footballers They met at the University of Panama on Saturday afternoon\ November 17 to discuss the current problem. The call comes after an investigation by La Prensa, which revealed alleged deviations in the contributions given by the Panamanian Sports Institute ( Pandeportes) to federations, leagues, sports organizations and individuals between 2014 and 2017, which often did not arrive at their destination. or were directed to non-existent leagues. At the meeting, it was agreed that the demonstration will be open to all concerned citizens. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/athletes-plan-rally-to-protest-vanishing-funds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_02 Posted November 18, 2018 Author Moderators Share Posted November 18, 2018 Quote 11 deputies named in sports scam probe Posted on November 17, 2018 in Panama Ricardo Lombana Post Views: 94 The Supreme Court judge Hernán De León, who is under his own cloud related to the alleged sale of judgements has been appointed rapporteur to admit or not a complaint against 11 deputies of the National Assembly for the alleged commission of the crime of embezzlement to the detriment of the Panama Sports Institute (Pandeportes), through transfers of money to sports organizations and sports federations. The legal action was presented by the independent presidential candidate Ricardo Lombana, against the deputies of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) deputies Benicio Robinson, Javier Ortega, Alfredo Perez, Iván Picota, Zulay Rodríguez, and Néstor Guardia; Panameñista Party deputies Adolfo Valderrama and Katleen Levy;and of Cambio Democrático (CD)deputies Carlos Afú and Juan Poveda. “I ask Judge De León, as well as the entire Court, not to ignore the enormous and overwhelming evidence that the whole country has seen of the waste of public funds and to admit the evidence and process it,” said Lombana The alleged infringements s were revealed by a La Prensa investigation, which documented millions of dollars in contributions given by Pandeportes to federations, leagues, sports organizations and individuals between 2014 and 2017, that in many cases never reached their destination. There were cases in which the funds went to non-existent leagues. At the same time, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office is conducting an investigation against individuals and officials who may have acted irregularly in the payment of money. The Comptroller General of the Republic advanced an audit, which in its preliminary phase has detected alleged anomalies in of $9 million, “which were not sustained.” https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/11-deputies-named-in-sports-scam-probe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_02 Posted January 16, 2019 Author Moderators Share Posted January 16, 2019 Quote $40 million gone missing,-only athletes care Posted on January 15, 2019 in Panama Post Views: 246 La Prensa has been publishing the findings of an investigation for months that revealed that in this administration the allocation of resources through Pandeportes was substantially increased; that many of these resources went to federations that did not report their use; and that these federations are controlled or linked to deputies. In addition to documentary evidence, the investigations include testimonies of people active in different sports disciplines who expressed sadness, disappointment, disbelief, knowing the figures that supposedly were assigned to them and never reached them. They also include images that reveal the abandonment of fields, gyms, athletes. In spite of this, the officials and deputies whose names emerged in the reports have limited themselves to denying everything, to make absurd excuses and declare themselves victims of political attacks. What they have not done is offer evidence to clarify what happened with more than $40 million dollars in public funds. The saddest thing is that neither the leaders of the parties in which they militate nor society in general, have risen to demand transparency. So in the future, everything remains the same .- LA PRENSA, January 15. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/40-million-gone-missing-only-athletes-care Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_02 Posted February 12, 2019 Author Moderators Share Posted February 12, 2019 Quote Baseball Scam: Bats for Ngäbe Buglé never imported Benico Robinson -strikes mounting Posted 11/02/2019 The Panamanian Institute of Sports (Pandeportes) gave the Panama Baseball Federation(Fedebeis) $7 million between July 2014 and May 2017, of which about $3 million went to pay for supplies destined to different parts of the country. The most benefited -according to the checks issued by Pandeportes- were the province of Panama, especially the district of San Miguelito, where supposedly almost $600,000 were destined After the publication of an exposure series by La Prensa, the general cacique of the Ngäbe Buglé comarca, Silvia Carrera, made inquiries among the regional caciques and sportsmen in order to discover know if they received the implements. None knew anything about them. In Besikó, coaches and players were astonished to see checks and invoices of the alleged purchases, while they play with overused equipment held together with wire said Husain Rodriguez, technical director of the team of Soloy - and treasurer of the district league that receives the supplies, "Where are they?" Ask Carrera, Rodríguez and other sports leaders from the Mironó, Besikó and Nole Duima districts, cited in the checks as the beneficiary communities of the inputs. They still await an explanation of why they have not seen equipment But neither Fedebeis nor Pandeportes nor the deputy Jaime Pedrol - who is cited in the documents that accompanied the checks - have provided any justification. All are silent and have not shown evidence that there were equipment deliveries reports La Prensa. The region -according to reports from the Fedebeis delivered to Pandeportes- they received a batting machine, uniforms for thousands of players, to BBCorth bats, at $54.80 each. BBCorth is a special certification or quality regulation of bats used in high schools in the US and in the Major League Baseball that guarantees that the bats have a better performance. According to official reports, 1,300 sweaters, 3, 478 pants, 8 594 hats, 358 leather handles, 562 dozens of balls (white and yellow), 18 home plate, 35 sets of bases, 197 aluminum bats were distributed in the region. plus 168 wooden bats, 408 sets of uniforms, 32 catcher sets, 16 pitching plates, a batting machine; 8 batting stops and 600 "polo-type" sweaters, according to 10 invoices from Dutary Sport and 3 from Niky's Corp. Deputy Benicio Robinson, president of the Fedele is and a leader of the PRD party -in a television interview- said that his critics did not know the discipline, "as if saying that the Indians do not deserve to have an aluminum bat or a 'bam bam'., .” La Prensa the import records of the National Customs Authority for the imports made by the two companies that sold these implements, according to the invoices contributed by the Fedebeis. The investigation produced a surprising result: neither of the two companies that supposedly sold the supplies to the Fedebeis registered any imports during the indicated years of a single bat, balls or the baseball equipment described in their invoices says La Prensa. These bats, because of their specifications, are not produced in Panama. The factory of the Baum Bat, as said, is in the United States. In addition, their wholesale prices are much lower than those described by Robinson and the bills of the Fedebeis. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/baseball-scam-bats-for-ngabe-bugle-never-imported-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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