Miscellaneous Corruption Probes / Prosecutions, and the Legal System That Prosecutes the Accused

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Deputy investigated over rubber check for kids’ playgrounds

Posted on August 31, 2018 in Panama

 

 

PRD  Deputy  Alfredo "Fello" Pérez, will be investigated by the Supreme Court, for issuing a check without funds to a company that was contracted to perform social works in Chepo. The investigation comes after the Court), admitted the complaint  against  "Fello" Pérez in April. of this year. The company JVU International S.A. was hired by the Deputy for the preparation and installation of parks children's, benches and  play machines in Chepo and Las Margaritas

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/deputy-used-rubber-check-for-kids-playgrounds

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Embezzlement and lying sentence cut

Posted on October 1, 2018 in Panama

 

Diomedes-Jaen-Dominguez

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The 6 years and 8 months jail term of the former director of the Institute of Agricultural Marketing (IMA), under the Martinelli adminisration. was lowered to 5 years, by the Second High Court of Justice.

Diomédes Jaén had been convicted of embezzlement and falsehood, when that on board an IMA car he caused a collision and rollover on December 24, 2011, outside of working hours. The vehicle was a total loss.

The sentence handed down by the 12th Court On June 14, 2017, had applied 2 years and 8 months for embezzlement and 4 years for falsehood, which totaled 6 years and 8 years.

Jaen’s lawyer filed an appeal.  And on September 21 of this year, the Second Court lowered the penalty for embezzlement to one year in prison and kept the 4 years for falsehood.

In total, the sentence was 5 years in prison, a sentence that allows Jaén to request a replacement

JudgeJosé Hoo (rapporteur), said there was an error because the former official was convicted for embezzlement when the crime was embezzlement of use.

The audit of the Comptroller’s Office determined that the patrimonial injury suffered by the State due to the total loss of the vehicle was $44, 238. In the ruling, the magistrates of the Second Court took into account that before the trial, Jaén paid all the money to the Treasury.

This ruling is being notified. The Office of the Prosecutor requested that the sentence of 80 months in prison be confirmed,

The day of the accident, Jaén lied when he told the traffic inspector that his subordinate, Amado Contreras, was the one driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/embezzlement-and-lying-sentence-cut

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Another corruption suspect  flees Panama

Posted on November 29, 2018 in Panama

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A request for bail not to be detained made by the former director of the National Council for Sustainable Development (Conades) in the Martinelli government has been rejected by the 12^th Criminal Court.

Danna Harrick,  the ex-director is under investigation by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor for alleged money laundering in the Odebrecht bribery scandal.

One of the arguments that judge Óscar Carrasquilla entered in the decision to deny the request is that Harrick has fled the country and thereby evades the commitment to the Public Ministry.

Carrasquilla warned that bail is not viable, as the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor  is investigating her possible participation in the concealment of money of illicit origin when she  was a civil servant

He  also concluded that the evidence that would link Harrick to the case is “serious.”

The linkage
The presumed link of the Harrick  with the payment of bribes by Odebrecht arises from the revelations made to  the prosecutor  by  businessman Andrés Mozes Libedinsky says La Prensa

According to the inquiries, she received $3 million from Aeon Group Inc. through the company Ralford Limited, registered in Andorra. Of these funds, $250, 000 were transferred to the Betaj Foundation an account in Switzerland,  registered in the name of Libedinsky.

The  Aeon Group was created to channel black funds from Odebrecht, through the Structured Operations Sector,

Mozez Libedinsky told the prosecutor’s office that when Harrick was the director of Conades, he proposed a business opportunity related to logistics services. At that time, he told her that because she was a government official, she could not sign the contract and asked him to sign it reports La Prensa

Harrick created the company Ralford Limited, in which she was a signatory at the time of its constitution and to open bank accounts. Mozez Libedinsky said he never had access to those accounts since the real owner of the money was Harrick.

He confessed that as a result of the change of government, Harrick went to work in a bank. He then transferred the funds in the Ralford account to the Betaj Foundation, in order to manage the money.

The businessman said that it was not until the end of 2016 when Harrick explained that the contract between Ralford Limited and Aeon Group “was fictitious and unlawful”. She also asked him to keep quiet and to go to Israel. Mozez Libedinsky claimed that he refused the request.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/another-corruption-suspect-flees-panama

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Corruption fugitive willing to collaborate

Posted on December 6, 2018 in Panama

 

Danna Harrick

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Danna Harrick the former director of the National Council for Sustainable Development (Conades) who is wanted by Interpol  says through a lawyer that she is willing  to appear to “collaborate” with justice in the investigation  of  the alleged laundering of bribes

In a statement published Thursday, the lawyer, Basilio Enrique González. said that his client would be brought before the courts, but with the guarantee that her physical integrity and rights are respected.

He said that the moment Harrick learned that she was charged in the process, she requested bail so as not to be detained, a request that was denied by the 12th Criminal Court.

On November 29, anti-corruption prosecutors Andrés De León Mozes Libedinsky signed a collaboration agreement in which he was sentenced to 42 months and returned $ 1.7 million. After the agreement, prosecutors said that Libedinsky gave information that identified  the director of Conades in the 2009-2014 period as the final beneficiary of the company Ralfim Limited, which allegedly received $3,050.000 Special  Anticorruption prosecutorZuleyka Moore said  that the ex-employee was a fugitive from justice and that a request for a red alert was issued to Interpol for her capture. The lawyer claims that  she  was out of the country before being linked to this process

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/corruption-fugitive-willing-to-collaborate

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Bar Association president accused of using false title

Posted on December 18, 2018 in Panama

 

Dionicio Rodriguez knows nothing of complaints

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The president of Panama’s National Bar Association (ANC) Dionicio Rodríguez, has been denounced before its Court of Honor accused of falsely claiming a doctorate that he allegedly, does not possess.

Lawyer Joel Caballero accuses Rodriguez of violating the  Attorney Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility of for attributing himself an academic title that he does not possess, considered a breach of ethics “that he publicly or privately uses or attributes academic degrees that he does not possess”.

According to the Caballero, Rodríguez has used the title of “doctor” at different times and contexts.

For example, the Complainant affirms that on September 3, 2018, Rodríguez granted a power of attorney in which he presents himself as “doctor”. “That power he did in his capacity as president of the National Bar Association, which aggravates his unethical behavior,” says Caballero.

He also says that during the elections of the Bar Association to choose its authorities for 2017 and 2019, “it was common to see advertisements where [Rodríguez] used the academic title  Dr. “He also used it in other activities and documents of the ANC “ reports La Prensa.

The plaintiff also points out that Rodríguez’s website specifies that he studied in a doctoral program, which “makes a difference between being a graduate and having completed a program” that “clearly indicates that he has not finished the qualification requirements.” He also cites the absence of a doctor’s degree in the curriculum of the firm for which Rodríguez works.

Rodríguez told La Prensa he knew nothing about the complaint.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/bar-association-president-accused-of-using-false-title

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Freeloading jet setter tired of traveling

 

Posted 24/02/2019

 

FRANZ WEVER, who managed to become Secretary General of the National Assembly after twice being rejected by voters during elections has a lifelong record of feeding at the public trough. Going back to the days when he led a union of taxi drivers with the blessing of the military dictatorship.

His clouded past including allegations of corruption may be catching up with him in the diablos rojos compensation scandal (Diablos rojos were retired and old, often poorly serviced  US school buses, billowing black clouds of diesel smoke that threatened the lives of passengers and highway users before the Metro bus system was introduced.

After interrogation by the Public prosecutor, over alleged anomalies in  his compensation claims, Wever was placed under country arrest, meaning he cannot travel without judicial permission and must report to the authorities every month

In his familiar style, Wever thumbed his nose at the restriction, telling a gaggle of media, -perhaps anticipating a repeat of a  previous performance when he unzipped his fly- that he was tired of traveling and spending money and had visited 53 countries and four continents

On Sunday, February 24 La Prensa delved into some of his recent jaunts trips without touching on his jaunts to sporting events like the Olympics  in earlier roles ion sporting bodies

“Vietnam, Zambia, the Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Russia, and Switzerland are some of the countries visited by the Secretary-General of the National Assembly,  Franz Wever, with public money.  In total, Wever has made at least 14 trips, which has meant an expense to the Legislative of over  $102,000. In May 2016, he traveled to Dubai, to attend a forum for recycling and management of solid waste. The tour cost $10,s92 reports La Prensa The "political ability" of Franz Wever served to obtain favors in other organs of the State. In 2017 he managed to get the Presidency of the Republic, in charge of the Panamanian Juan Carlos Varela, to pay him surgery to remove kidney stones, which cost $7,787. This, although he earns $ 7000 a month as General Secretary 

From January 2015 to August 2018, Wever, a member of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, (PRD) has taken planes to visit countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America. In March 2015, when he was a few months in office, he flew away. He traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, to participate in a parliamentary assembly. He received travel expenses of $5,837.

In September of that year, he went to Lausanne, Switzerland, to attend an issue that had nothing to do with the work he does in the Legislature  It was an activity to which he was invited as a director of the Swimming Federation, but which was paid with money from the Assembly. He was given $3,600 in travel expenses.

The following month, October 2015, he returned to Switzerland, but this time he went to Geneva, where he represented Panama in a meeting of parliamentarians s. His air ticket cost $5,000  and thousand, and he received $ 4,200 in travel expenses.

His next destination was more distant and exotic. In March 2016 he flew to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, a trip that meant an outlay of $6,600 in travel expenses.

The next stamp in his your passport from (May 2016) would be posted at an airport in a country in the United Arab Emirates: in Dubai, where he represented the Assembly in a forum on recycling and waste management. His air ticket cost $5,184, but he also received $4, 900 in travel expenses. He also went to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. for an assembly of parliaments. The air ticket cost $ 5, 289, but he also received $5,000 in travel expenses.

Wever has also gone to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to several cities in Mexico and Spain, to St. Petersburg, Russia and other destinations with  public money reports La Prensa,

For now he's grounded, awairing trial when his wings may be further clipped .

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/freeloading-jet-setter-tired-of-traveling

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Court asks lifting of  ex-minister’s  protection

 

Posted 18/03/2019

 

The Sixteenth Criminal Court has asked the  Electoral Tribunal (TE) to lift the electoral protection of Giselle Burillo a former cabinet minister charged with embezzlement. The jurisdiction protects candidates running for office, from prosecution until 15 days after the election. Burillo . is a candidate for deputy of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), for Cambio Democrático (CD).

Ricardo Martinelli, during his presidential election campaign, described  Parlacen as a "den of thieves", populated by those avoiding justice. 

The court ’s request is for the trial Burillo faces for the alleged commission of a $1.2 million offense against the public administration to the detriment of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Authority (Ampyme) which she headed.

The magistrate rapporteur of the TE, to resolve the request for lifting of jurisdiction, is Heriberto Araúz. 

On March 7, sixteenth judge Enrique Pérez agreed to a request from defense attorney Carlos Carrillo to postpone the ordinary hearing scheduled for March 11 to 19, 2019, against Burillo.  This hearing will be held on the alternate date of April 8 to April 16, 2019.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/court-asks-lifting-of-ex-ministers-protection

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Court asks nixing electoral shield of deputy

Vidal Garcia facing corruption charges

Posted 20/03/2019

 

Panama’s Supreme Court of Justice has requested the Electoral Tribunal (TE) authorization to continue with the  corruption investigations of a process to the current Cambio Democrático (CD) deputy Vidal García

The Judicial Body has asked the TE to lift the electoral penal jurisdiction enjoyed by García as  a candidate for deputy for the CD party. Otherwise, they cannot continue with the investigation process.

The Court is investigating  Garcia for the alleged commission of the crime against public administration( embezzlement).

The file with the request for the cleansing of the electoral criminal jurisdiction is in the hands of Judge Eduardo Valdés Escoffery and the cast was held on Tuesday, March 19.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/court-asks-nixing-electoral-shield-of-deputy

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Ex- head of small business authority to trial

Giselle Burillo

Posted 25/03/2019

 

Ten people linked to alleged damage to property [theft] to the detriment of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Authority (Ampyme) in contracts for the transport of mobile plants and tool kits have been called to trial.

Th e Public Prosecutor's Office, said which stated that the request for a trial was made on Tuesday, March 12. The investigations of this process account for a possible patrimonial injury of $91,000

Central to the case In this case, the authorities investigate the ex-administrator of the Ampyme Giselle Burillo. The investigations reveal that the contracting of the services was paid from the petty cash of the entity.

The Office of the Public Prosecutor evidenced the lack of documents that support and certify the reception of the service, as well as presumed anomalies in the issuance of purchase orders for services previously contracted and paid by the entity.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/ex-head-of-small-business-authority-to-trial

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Election candidate among red devil embezzlment suspects

Cesar Herrera said to have received over $525,000

Posted 05/04/2019

The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office has temporarily detained seven people - five men and two women - including a candidate in the upcoming election for alleged embezzlement in the case of economic compensation to owners of diablos rojo (red devil) buses.  

Among the detainees reports La Prensa is César Herrera,  independent candidate for deputy in circuit 8-5, La Chorrera.

According to the prosecutor's office, the  Electoral Tribunal recently lifted the electoral criminal immunity for Herrera.

The prosecution specified that the candidate was summoned three times "but did not attend", so he was picked up on Thursday, April 4, and issued a detention measure for the alleged irregular collection of $525,000 in compensation of four routes and four more names of other people.

These people "already investigated, allegedly would have lent their names for this illegal act, the majority of this charge was for in nonexistent routes " said the prosecutor.

The Eighth Court granted nine bonds for a little more than $3.5  million in this case and to date, the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office has investigated 281 people.

According to the prosecutor's inquiries, the  Transit Authoritys (ATTT) during the last government administration delivered compensation in exchange for 2,649 operating certificates between 2010 and 2014, which represented a disbursement to the State of $94.8 million. Of the total of compensated certificates, the prosecutor's office investigated 573 for alleged irregularities.

Among those investigated in the case are former ATTT directors Jorge Ricardo Fábrega, Ventura Vega and Roberto Moreno; and the ex- subdirectory Arturo Araúz.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/election-candidate-among-red-devil-embezzlment-suspects-1

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Ex-mayor convicted in park cleaning scam

Posted 17/04/2019

Former Panama Mayor, Bosco Vallarino and two others have been declared by the Court of Auditors jointly responsible,  for patrimonial injury to the State i in the case related to a  contract by the Municipality of Panama for the maintenance, conservation, and cleaning of plazas and parks.

The court sentenced them Vallarino and two people; the amount of the damage sum $585,234.16, detailed the prosecution.

Vallarino was mayor of the Municipality of Panama between July 2009 and January 2012.

He is still facing corruption charges relating to bribes tied to the construction of a parking lot.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/ex-mayor-convicted-in-park-cleaning-scam

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Ex-Minister gets dates for two trials

Giselle Burillo

Posted 11/05/2019

Panama’s  Sixteenth Criminal Circuit Court of t under in charge of Judge Enrique Pérez,  has allocated six days (November s 12, 13, 14, 15, 18 and 19) for November 2019, for the  trial   of Ex-minister of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Authority (Ampyme) Giselle Burillo, , and five other people, for embezzlement

This case is related to the alleged contract of vehicles to transport mobile plants, which would be used to dictate seminars to entrepreneurs of the entity.  The trial  will be held in the hearing room Roy Phillips of the Maritime Court of Appeals says  the Judicial Organ It will have alternate dates on December 2, 3, 4, 6 and 10,

In addition, another ordinary hearing was set for the dates of 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20 and 21 of January of 2020, for Burillo and three  other  people  for   the supposed rent of vehicles in the Ampyme The alternate dates will be held on February 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18, 20

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/ex-minister-gets-dates-for-two-trials

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Education director fired over school scam expose

Posted 16/05/2019

Luis Carlos Varela, Regional Director of Education of Eastern Panama,  and Víctor Pimentel, director of the Professional and Technical Institute Mexico Panamá, have been  fired by were separated from their positions,following, investigations of the Public Ministry (MP), for the alleged theft of $20,000 from the agricultural fund administered by the school's director.

The alleged malfeasance came to light on March 1, 2019, after Fernando Ábrego, secretary of the Association of Teachers of the Republic (Asoprof), revealed the situation to the newspaper El Siglo.

The publication of the story led to protests by teachers and students of the school, located in Tanara, Chepo.

Luis Lopez, of the National Union of Educators of Panama, said that since there are sponsor links the case is practically going to die in its cradle with this government. "It is not known if the next government will give continuity to this case, we on our part will demand continuity because there is supposedly a relative of President  Juan Carlos Varela involved," he said.

The Meduca stressed that if the MP proves mismanagement in the use of these resources, the respective sanctions will be applied,

Teachers and students have demanded greater transparency in the use of budgets granted by the Education Ministry (Meduca).

 Declaration. The educational leader, Luis Lopez, said that situations like these occur in other schools, such as the misuse of the Equity and Education Quality Fund, as well as the misuse of funds from parent clubs and that, most of the cases,  go unpunished

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/education-director-fired-over-school-scam-expose

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Public Ministry lawyer asked for $10,000 to speed rent payment

Posted 25/06/2019

A Public Ministry MP) official, and lawyer.r Edwin Manuel Campos,39, who was arrested on Monday, June 25, appeared in court On Tuesday  to face corruption charges. He has been fired and has to report once a month.

Campos, worked in the MP  Department of Public Procurement and was denounced by the owner of some commercial premises in  Las Tablas, housing the MP  offices.

According to the complaint, the former official had asked the owner of the premises, for $10,000 to expedite the payment for the overdue rent which was three months late.

Instead of paying the owner of the premises filed a complaint.

 Leaving the court, Campos, 39, said that he is innocent reports TVN.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/public-ministry-lawyer-asked-for-10000-to-speed-rent-payment

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Panama based fraudster back home to serve 22 years

The homecoming

Posted 25/06/2019

David Murcia Guzmán, who in his early 20’s cruised the streets of Panama in a Lamborghini and lived the high life while robbing thousand of investors in his DMG  pyramid scheme until he was arrested and deported to the US   to face trial and a nine-year jail term has been extradited to his native Colombia.

He arrived  on Tuesday morning, after being deported from the United States, after serving his sentence

serving a sentence of 9 years in prison.

Once in Colombian territory, he was received by immigration authorities of this country and placed under the orders of the corresponding authorities to face a penalty of 22 years in prison for aggravated asset laundering and massive and habitual collection of money.

"David Murcia will be transferred to special areas of Migration Colombia where the immigration control process will take place, registering his entry into the country, and verification, validating his full identity, as well as the arrest warrants against him," said Migración de  Colombia according to a report in El Tiempo.

Murcia’s lawyers  tried unsuccessfully in the US to prevent his deportation him and submitted two judicial appeals,

According to El Tiempo , "the defense of Murcia, is preparing its legal arsenal to achieve a reduction of the sentence for the 15months   he was deprived of freedom before being extradited  and also that he is forgiven part of the 9 years he paid in the United States.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama-based-fraudster-back-home-to-serve-22-years

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Ex Assembly president facing scam charges

Rubén De León heading for Parlacen bolt hole.

Posted 25/07/2019

Former National Assembly president and PRD deputy   Rubén De León will appear in  court  on August 6  to face charges of  alleged anomalies in his legislative forms

The case advanced by the Public Ministry has its genesis in the collection of checks linked to the forms of the National Assembly.

Sumari Chong, who identifies herself as a victim, testified before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor that she received over $15,000 - in two bank transfers – from her politician aunt Rubiela Pitano, and that money does not belong to her.

The funds, in accordance with what was collected by the prosecution, would come from the legislative forms that were assigned to De León in the past five years.

A first hearing will verify Chong’s banking information. That same day another procedure will be held to charge De León and Pitano, who was appointed by President  Laurentino Cortizo as director of the National Disability Secretariat (Senadis).

De León was elected deputy of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) and will be sworn in next September. If the prosecution wants to prosecute him, it must do so before the Parlacen first plenary session.

After that, the case would remain in the hands of the Supreme Court of Justice, which is responsible for investigating the deputies.

Multi-millions
De León, who was president of the Assembly on two occasions, was one of the deputies of the 2014-2019 period who received most funds as payroll and legislative contracts. In total, he received $6.4 million: $2 million in donations and the rest in payroll, according to the Comptroller General

77% of the $2 million that De León received in donations was given in 2016, the same period in which De León was president of the Assembly.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/ex-assembly-president-facing-scam-charges

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Lawyer facing major corrption probes seeks jail release

Mauricio Cort

Posted 28/07/2019

A Panama lawyer targeted in two major corruption investigations has filed an appeal of habeas corpus with the Supreme Court in an attempt to escape preventive detention.

 Mauricio Cort’s appeal is against the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor who ordered his preventive detention while investigating him for alleged money laundering to the detriment of the Ministry of Public Works.

The process is linked to the alleged payment of bribes through the company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC).

The appeal has been assigned to Judge Ángela Russo.

This is the second legal remedy presented by Cort before the Supreme Court of Justice, within this process.

On July 10, 2019, he presented a constitutional protection guarantee against the order of investigation issued against him by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor. The rapporteur is magistrate Hernán De León.

Cort has been detained since June 21, by order of the prosecution.

The investigation began on April 2017, after an audit by the Office of the Comptroller General for the Corredor Sur-via Brasil project, section II, revealed a possible price premium of $41.7 million. The project contractor is FCC.

Cort also appears as charged in the investigation for the bribes that Odebrecht paid. Here he reached a penalty agreement with the prosecution.

This agreement has no relevance in the FCC investigation.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/lawyer-facing-major-corrption-probes-seeks-jail-release

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Cortizo appointee resigns as legislator  corruption case brews

Rubiela Pitano

Posted 29/07/2019

Rubiela Pitano appointed by 'Nito' Cortizo as Director-General of the  National Disability Secretariat (Senadis) has resigned.

"In view of the events known by all  and for the need to address the legal situation in which I have recently been linked, which demands my full attention, I inform my decision to decline the appointment made to me as director General of Senadis,” Pitano said in a statement he released Monday, July 29, through her Twitter account.

On July 25, published that the accusatory criminal system (SPA)  set for next August 6 two hearings related to alleged irregularities in the legislative forms that the former deputy of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) Rubén De León handled.

One of those hearings is to assign charges to De León and Pitano, who, according to the Public Ministry's inquiries, had transferred $15,000 to her niece Sumari Chong. The latter told the anti-corruption prosecutor's office that the case does not belong to her

According to the prosecution, the funds would come from the legislative forms that were assigned to De León in the past five years. Including the rime when he was president of the National Assembly.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/cortizo-appointee-resigns-as-legislator-corruption-case-brews

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Ex-disability director charged with forgery

De León aiming for "den of thieves"

Posted 06/08/2019

Rubiela Pitano the former director of the National Disability Secretariat (Senadis), linked to the mishandling of returns in the National Assembly was charged with forgery and placed under country arrest by a judge of guarantees on Tuesday, August 6.

In the same case, Rubén De León the former president of the National Assembly  failed to appear

Prosecutor Adecio Mojica said the investigation is complex and several checks appeared in the bank accounts of Pitano, which are in the name of another person, a niece who was on the Assembly's payroll, as an administrative assistant while De León was president.

 He is attempting to wriggle out of being investigated as he has been elected to the Central American  Parliament (Parlacen,) famously named as “a den of thieves” where he is scheduled to take his seat in September.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/ex-disability-director-charged-with-forgery

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Convicted launderer denied  teaching job to replace jail

Raúl de Saint Malo,

Posted 23/08/2019

A  move by convicted money launderer  Raúl de Saint-Malo, brother of Panama’s formerVICE- president, to replace a five-year jail term with “community work” as a university professor was denied by compliance judge Angeline Adames.

Attorney Nedelka Díaz had requested that the penalty be replaced by a community work penalty, as a professor at the Maritime University of Panama (UMIP).

De Saint Malo has the title of naval engineer and has vessels in which he could train marine students, said the lawyer.

But Judge Adames determined that the request did not meet requirements such as the approval of the university, the accreditation of the Academic Council of the UMIP and also did not provide information on who would be the person in charge of supervising the activities that Saint-Malo would carry out.

She said that the nature of community work is to serve the community.

Prosecutor Tania Sterling said that there would be no social compensation, given the seriousness of the criminal conduct and the penalty applied.

De Saint Malo reached a collaboration and penalty agreement with the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in March. Part of the agreement was five years in prison. was applied, which has not yet begun to govern.

Sterling said that, as part of the agreement with the prosecution, De Saint-Malo returned $1.9 million and two vessels valued at $1.8 million.

Martinelli family links
According to the investigation, the businessman acknowledged that on the instructions of the brothers Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares - sons of former President Ricardo Martinelli - he made payments for the purchase of a helicopter that was subsequently seized by the Public Ministry on suspicion that it was purchased with money from money laundering.

In inquiries between May and June 2017 before the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, De Saint-Malo revealed that, after a tanker ship business that agreed in 2013 with the Martinelli Linares brothers, they formed the Petro Trading Services Corp. , through which payments were made to Franconaves and other companies.

These companies included Iberian Real Estate Development, Isthmus Energy Corporation, and Los Andes Development and Development, all linked to the Martinelli family and which are the subject of an investigation by the Public Ministry in the process related to the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht and other legal proceedings.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/convicted-launderer-denied-teaching-job-to-replace-jail

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Martinelli insider facing two Supreme Court corruption trials

Posted 26/09/2019

Two corruption cases involving Giselle Burillo the former director of the Authority of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Ampyme), have been forwarded by the 16^th Criminal Court  to the Supreme  Court after she sought refuge in Parlacen

Burillo, a former cabinet Minister and member of former president Ricardo Martinelli’s inner circle. is charged with the alleged commission of crimes related to the management of resources and inputs in programs developed by Ampyme.

The decision of the court comes after the former official was elected as a deputy of  the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) in May.

The first of the files sent by the Sixteenth Criminal Court is related to an  audit report which showed anomalies in the process of awarding purchase orders for car rental.

The case is related to the alleged vehicle contract to transport mobile plants, which would be used to give seminars to entrepreneurs of the entity. The case was filed in the office of magistrate Abel Zamorano and the trial date will be from December 2 to 10.

The second process is related to anomalies in the rental of vehicles by Ampyme, and the file will be in charge of Judge Hernán De León with a trial date set for January 13-21, 2019.

The Constitution establishes that the deputies of the National Assembly and of Parlacen can only be investigated and judged by the Supreme Court.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/martinelli-insider-facing-two-supreme-court-corruption-trials-1

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Ruling party fixture and fellow fraudsters jailed for five years

Posted 12/02/2020

A member of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) National Council, who has been the Calidonia local representative for five consecutive terms has been jailed for five years and banned from public office for another five.

On Wednesday. February  12 Judge Nixela Aizprúa, of the Eleventh Criminal Court, sentenced Ramón Ashby Chial, to 60 months in prison for embezzlement to the detriment of the local community.

She  also condemned Ricardo Cannolly, Juan Manuel Suárez Navarrete and Inés Goméz de Meléndez.

According to the judge, Ashby Chial, 49, issued nine checks for the purchase of eight cell phones in breach of the Administrative and Fiscal Procedures Manual for Minor Contracts. 

Spending spree
 In addition, the disbursement of checks for $32,000 was detected for the purchase of materials, payment of social services and holidays, among others, which did not have the documentation to support the expense in violation of the Accounting Manual for Community Boards and the Rules of Internal Government Control.

The investigation was carried out by the Third Anti-Corruption Prosecutor. The probe began with the Special Audit Report of September 18, 2009, of the Comptroller General of the Republic, which highlighted unsupported expenses related to hiring, procurement of goods and services of the Calidonia Community  Board  between September 1, 1999, and August 31, 2003 for the sum of $505,355.25

Chial’s lawyer is appealing.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/ruling-party-fixture-and-fellow-fraudsters-jailed-for-five-years