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National Assembly and Irregularities Regarding Expense Reports, Payments for Work Not Performed, Nepotism, Altered Checks, etc.


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Teflon lady targeted by Panama Transparency boss and Comptroller

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Yanibel Abrego under fire
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Yanibel  Ábrego. president of the National Assembly and  a CD deputy  already in the sights of the Comptroller General  for blocking a team of forensic auditors from examining the flawed expenditure reports of lawmakers is now being targeted  by  the Transparency and Access to Information body (Antai),  for refusing to provide information

Ábrego is already facing a denunciation in the Supreme Court.

The body directed by Angélica Maytin has sent a letter to Ábrego, telling her she must face a “sanctioning summary process” for delivering “incomplete and inaccurate” information about the breakdown of the personnel assigned to each of the deputies.

Maytín also requests the president of the Legislature to appear at her  office “in a personal capacity or through a legal attorney so that she  is notified of the opening of this process and to render the corresponding releases.”

The Law created the Antai allows Angelica Maytin “apply fines to public servants for up to an amount that does not exceed 50% of their  monthly salary

Recently  22 deputies of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) decided to support the re-election of Ábrego whose survival skills have earned her the Teflon lady sobriquet but, as the comptroller has shown, there’s more than one way to skin a rabbit.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/columns/the-cuff/teflon-lady-targeted-by-panama-transparency-boss-and-comptroller

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Panamanian Parliament will publish questioned list of employees of deputies

Wed, 07/04/2018 - 16:41

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The unicameral Parliament of Panama announced today that next Friday it will publish a questionable list of the staff handled by deputies, whose alleged irregularities led the Comptroller General to file complaints against legislators before the Supreme Court of Justice.

The National Assembly (AN), of 71 deputies, will publish on its website "updated 080 payroll of the deputies", taking into account recommendations of the Comptroller General, Federico Humbert, that the information include, for example, the detail of which legislator the person who appears on the payroll works for.

It will also specify what functions the contracted person has fulfilled, and the "adjustment to the minimum wage, among others (specifications) of an administrative nature of attendance control," the Assembly said in its statement.

The Parliament reiterated on Tuesday that it will soon begin "a broad process of discussion and consultations among the different organized sectors of the country to debate and agree on proposals that generate reforms to the Internal Regulation, with a view to implementing mechanisms that allow more transparency" in this government branch.

On June 28, Comptroller Humbert presented filed the Prosecutor's Office and the Supreme Court the first complaints about the alleged irregular handling of payroll managed by the deputies.

The Panamanian law states that deputies can only be prosecuted by the Supreme Court, whose magistrates, at the same time, can only be investigated and sanctioned by Parliament.

The Comptroller "must present the findings" of the alleged irregularities, involving both deputies and other public employees, "for the Court to do the relevant work," said the comptroller, who refused to reveal the names of the deputies reported to avoid "corrupting the proceedings".

Humbert ordered the suspension of payments to the staff of some eleven deputies made through the controversial "Payroll 080", whose monthly allowance per legislator was raised from $ 4,000 to $ 30,000 in 2014, shortly after the beginning of the current administration of President Juan Carlos Varela.

On May 28, Humbert published a letter informing about the suspension of payments, a letter that had already been delivered four days before to the president of the National Assembly, deputy Yanibel Ábrego, of the opposition Democratic Change party (CD), second parliamentary force.

Ábrego was re-elected last Sunday, when the parliamentary leadership was taken over by the majority opposition, which has accused Humbert of being a ram of the Executive of Juan Carlos Varela, who has rejected that version.

The Auditors of the Comptroller's Office that reviewed one of the controversial payrolls of the Parliament were evicted from the facilities of that public power and their papers and files were taken away, claimed the comptroller on June 5.

The "irragularities" found by the auditors, said Humbert on June 5, include the appointment of 9 family members who charged $ 117,835; the other 6 that earned $ 70,739; and invoices dated February 30 and 31, a month that only has 28 days and 29 in a leap year.

The Parliament published in April information on the more than 3,000 people hired by the 71 Panamanian deputies, but the National Authority of Transparency and Access to Information (ANTAI) then claimed that the data were "insufficient" because they did not include the date on which the people were hired, for how long or which deputy they worked for.

For that reason, ANTAI opened "a sanctioning summary administrative proceeding" against Ábrego.

 

http://www.panamatoday.com/panama/panamanian-parliament-will-publish-questioned-list-employees-deputies-7248

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Lawmakers  rob State to make sure bets

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A pair of deputies in the National Assembly (AN) found a sure way to hedge their bets during the previous administration through over  30   “consultants”  employed at the local racetrack who received checks from the notorious “172” fund, and return the cash, less a  5-10% commission.

The  “consultants”  in the stables of the Presidente Remón Racetrack were stall cleaners,  grooms and “exercises” who agreed to participate in the recycling  of checks for deputy Héctor Aparicio  a former president of the Assembly (2011-20120 teamed with Bernabé Pérez-Frachiola who once aspired to be Panama’s Comptroller General, says a report by La Prensa, published July 16.

The newspaper  corroborated, its investigation through payment vouchers published on the Comptroller’s portal, of contracts endorsed by racetrack employees totaling over $ 100,000, with more sitting in the wings.

Aparicio did not answer messages of from La Prensa before the story was published and  Pérez Frachiola, denied the accusations.

La Prensa spoke with three witnesses who were part of the network of “consultants” or contractors of the AN, paid through Form 172, who reported that a deputy was collecting at the racecourse names, cedulas, signatures and, processing  transfers to change the checks of the contracts and deliver the cash through third parties.

Witnesses said that Pérez Frachiola, who shares with deputy Héctor Aparicio (Cambio Democrático) A  passion for horses, was Aparicio’s contact when they were granted the contracts  at the time that Aparicio was president of the Assembly (2011-2012)

La Prensa  was able to corroborate the veracity of the testimonies (see facsimile) of a dozen contracts that add up to at least $100,000

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/lawmakers-rob-state-to-make-sure-bets

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Assembly staff pay remains on hold

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The payment of “Form 80” which covers staff  “employed” by elected lawmakers  remains suspended said Panama Comptroller, Federico Humbert, on  Wednesday, July 18,

Humbert said: “We have been very clear: the person who provides a service for the National Assembly must charge, however, there were many people in the 080 that  were not providing services for the Assembly I think we obviously have to pay those who worked and who are the ‘botellas’ (fake jobs).

Payment will remain suspended for the people who cannot sustain that their service was for this institution.”

He added that a team of the Assembly has been visiting his technical team in the General Comptroller’s Office.

The comptroller also said that last week he had an interview with the president of the National Assembly,  Deputy Yanibel Ábrego over Form 172 which covers millions of dollars in payments for outside contracts, with new irregularities at the city racetrack this week.

On June 5, the Comptroller’s Office suspended the payment to 3,500persons named in the return 080, after an audit revealed irregularities in the management of the funds.

The National Assembly reported that on July 6, it would proceed with the total publication total of the 080 form on the institutional website, but to date it has not published anything reports La Prensa.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/assembly-staff-pay-remains-on-hold

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13 lawmakers off embezzlement hook

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The Supreme Court
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In the absence of “adequate evidence,” the plenum of the Supreme Court of Justice did not admit a multi-million dollars embezzlement complaint against 13 deputies of  Panama’s main political parties.

The complaint was based on a La Prensa investigation that revealed that the deputies managed $14 million in donations,  and subsidies that largely did not reach their beneficiaries, and $68 million in contracts for professional services, which in many cases were not made.

The criminal complaint was filed by the lawyer Carlos Herrera Morán against the deputies of the National Assembly for the alleged embezzlement, through the diversion of public funds that were assigned to them as donations, subsidies, and contracts for professional services.

In a ruling, with a presentation by Judge Efrén Tello dated April 18, the plenary session did not admit the complaint filed on March 30 against former presidents of the Assembly  Rubén De León, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), and Adolfo Valderrama, of the Panameñista Party, for lack of summary evidence.

The complaint also included Deputies Dalia Bernal, Carlos Afú, and Mario Miller, of (CD); Katleen Levy, Miguel Salas, and Juan Poveda, of the Panameñista Party; Elías Castillo, Alfredo Pérez, Benicio Robinson and Crescencia Prado, of the PRD; and Juan Carlos Arango, of the Popular Party.

The legal action had its genesis in a report published by La Prensa on March 6 and 14,  2017.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/13-deputies-off-embezzlement-hook

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Supeme Court delays contempt ruling

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Assembly president Yanibel Abrego
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A  draft of ruling on an application for contempt filed against the president of the National Assembly, Yanibel Ábrego, for refusing to provide information related to payrolls and contracts for professional services has been put off until the next plenary of the Supreme Court.

Ábrego refused  to deliver information to the newspaper La Prensa on the forms handled by the deputies for donations and contracts for professional services,

In the  Thursday, Aug. 2 plenary session, the magistrates discussed two incidents of contempt presented by

the law firm Galindo, Arias & López, after Ábrego, refused to deliver the information although the Court had favorably received a writ of habeas data.

According to judicial sources, the plenary discussed a draft decision presented by the substitute magistrate Luis Mario Carrasco, who is a speaker on resources.

In the draft of the ruling, Judge Carrasco declares the incident of contempt against Abrego and reiterates the obligation to deliver the required information within five days.

Judges Oydén Ortega Durán, Luis Mario Carrasco and Harry Díaz supported the decision to declare the contempt against Ábrego proven, but the judges Wilfredo Sáenz (substitute for Abel Zamorano), José Ayú Prado, Secundino Mendieta (in substitution of Hernán De León) and Cecilio Cedalise voted against.

In this scenario, the draft decision must be presented at the next plenary.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/supeme-court-delays-contempt-ruling

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Supreme Court prosecutor named in deputy probe

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Aris De Icaza,
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Judge Abel Zamorano will serve as judge of guarantees and his colleague Hernán De León as prosecutor, in the investigation of deputy Aris De Icaza, of Cambio Democrático (CD)  for alleged anomalies in the handling of funds from the returns and donations of the National  Assembly. The designations follow the admission of the complaint against the deputy on August 8, by the plenary of the Supreme Court. The action was presented by the Comptroller General Federico Humbert, on June 29. De Icaza is one of a number of deputies facing criminal investigation following an audit sparked by a La Prensa expose of the squandering of scores of millions of taxpayer dollars.
 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/supreme-court-prosecutor-named-in-deputy-probe

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Assembly VP facing Supreme Court probe

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Federico Humbert and Leandro Avila
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A VICE PRESIDENT of the National Assembly is the latest deputy to be caught in the net of Panama’s Comptroller Federico Humbert as he trawls the notorious 080 and 172   report sheets listing scores of millions of dollars spent on often non-existent jobs or projects.

PRD  lawmaker Leandro Avila was denounced last week in The Supreme Court (CSJ). The complaint has its origin after it was known that a domestic worker employed by former president Mireya Moscoso in Boquete, Chiriquí, was one of the people contracted by  Ávila, through funds from item 172 of the Assembly.

The domestic,  Mireya Jurado Gómez, received three contracts for professional services in 2015 and 2016.

After the facts became known Jurado Gómez was fired by Moscoso. At the time Deputy Ávila said that the fact that Jurado Gómez was found in Chiriqui did not matter because the people who are under these forms do not have a schedule nor are they required to call in and they can be anywhere in the country.

Judge, Oydén Ortega, must decide whether or not to admit the legal action against the deputy.

Consulted on the filing  Ávila told La Prensa he was unaware of the complaint against him. “I’m going to make the arrangements to see what it’s about,” he said.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/assembly-vp-facing-supreme-court-probe

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39 deputies facing $287 million probe

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The boxes containing audits
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An appeal against a decision to allow the re-opening of the alleged corrupted  “communal meetings investigation involving transfers of $287 million by lawmakers has been rejected.

The fifth judge of the Criminal Circuit of Panama, Enrique Paniza, returned, the 93 volumes of the file to the anticorruption prosecutor.

Lawyer Armando Fuentes presented “written notice of appeal” on August 21 against the  Fifth Court decision admitting the request for reopening the summaries.

Judge Paniza flatly rejected the appeal as inadmissible.

A statement from the Judicial Branch said the Public Prosecutor’s Office already has a group of people ready to take charge of the case, among them, prosecutors, auditors, and staff of the Research Directorate. The prosecutors will be led by Leyda Sáenz.

Paniza, in a ruling of August 3, ordered the return of the files to the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s office which requested to resume the research after receiving 187 audits that the Comptroller’s Office showing that deputies transferred $287 million to community meetings during the past five years. 39 of the  deputies  were re-elected

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/39-deputies-facing-287-million-probe

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75% of deputies flout staffing reports

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The vast majority of Panama’s lawmakers each of whose labors are assisted by a score or more staff, refuse to reveal details of who they employ and how much taxpayer money they dispense.

Some 75.4% of the 71 members of the Legislature have failed to publish the list of people they  contract under the “080” plan,  and  the majority of the 11 deputies who have reported  employ family members, friends, and their personal businesses and don’t  specify what kind of work those employees do reports La Prensa,

None of the deputies of Cambio Democrático (CD) has made the data transparent, and only one of the Democratic Revolutionary Party did it.

Form 080 and the reporting  given by the deputies have been under public scrutiny since

March when the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic announced that it would be auditing the returns.

Since 2015, the monthly budget for staffing  was increased from $4,000 to $30,000 per deputy  which  brings the  monthly tally to $2.1 million and for many deputies was the open sesame to the taxpayer-funded treasure chest

Independent deputy, Ana Matilde Gómez was the first to publish the form. She specified the names, salaries and functions of her eight employees,(later reduced to five) but omitted their cedulas. In total, the original return was  around $18,000

PRD  deputy Quibian Panay put a copy e of his return in his Twitter account.  A review by La Prensa found that 17 of the 45 names had inconsistencies: repeated cedulas, cedulas that do not coincide and alteration in declared salaries, and work functions were not specified.

Juan Carlos Arango, of the Popular Party, had 29 people,  listed who served mainly as promoters and assistants at communal meetings costing a total of $ 27,050 0 in salaries. One worked as a veterinarian, another as an electrician, there was a lawyer and a “liaison” with the Electoral Tribunal “.

Of the eight Panamenistas who disclosed their 080 form, only three detailed their personnel. José Antonio Domínguez named  36 staff  with the majority listed as “community promoter” or  “Corregimiento coordinator.”

Adolfo Beby Valderrama did not specify charges but gave work to his mother-in-law and a nephew who lives in Mexico.

None of the 25 Cambio Democrático has published a form.

The scandal of the 080 form has mobilized citizens in social networks, and as the 2019 elections draw nearer the voices will get  louder

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/75-of-deputies-flout-staffing-reports

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Anti-corruption boss to face Assembly   

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Angélica Maytin
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Panama’s embattled lawmakers facing a growing no  to re-election call by civil groups, demands from the nation’s comptroller to deliver their  multi-million dollar staffing reports [form 080] and Supreme Court cases, have decided to strike back at   The director of the National  Transparency (Antai) Angélica Maytin  who has been pressuring them to reveal details of  their expense sheets, some of which have already led to the opening  if investigations.

She has been summoned to appear at the plenary session of the Assembly to answer a questionnaire related to the travel expenses that she has received in addition to her management of the Antai.

Some questions that the anti-corruption tsar must answer are:

– Indicate the budget for travel expenses outside the country of the Antai ?.

– How many trips have you made outside of the country, detail what is charged in travel expenses and how much of the tickets to date? What is the benefit of these trips?

– How many investigations has the Antai made to ministerial forms?

– If Law 33 of 2013 and Law 6 of 2002 on transparency require the publication of payrolls in the same condition to all the institutions, why is a requirement different from the National Assembly?

– Are you aware that the National Assembly has published the 080 form on the website of the institution?

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/anti-corruption-boss-facing-assembly-grilling

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Another Lawmaker  charged in Assembly payroll scam

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Aris Icaza
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Two additional criminal complaints against a  Democratic Change deputy were filed in the Supreme Court by Panama’s  Comptroller General on Thursday, August 6.

Aris De Icaza is charged with  alleged irregularities in the appointment of people in the  National Assembly  and joins a growing list of deputies  whose fraudulent use of taxpayer funds  are being revealed in audits

The complaints were presented by the comptroller Federico Humbert, through the lawyer Carlos Muñoz Pope.

The first complaint says that between July 1, 2014, and  December 31, 2016, ten people were hired through the Assembly forms assigned to  Icaza. For the same period of time, the group he hired worked for the company Claramar S.A.

The people charged a total of $$81,974 in 17 signed contracts of the deputy’s payroll, and at the same time worked in a private company without rendering service in the Assembly.

The second complaint indicates that De Icaza’s payrolls paid six checks in the name of Ángel Rodríguez Quintero, for a total amount of $ 5, 273 between December 23, 2011, and April 23, 2011. The comptroller said in the complaint that Rodríguez Quintero made statements in the media indicating that he was included in the contracts of the Assembly but never worked there.

The endorsement of the cheques are different, to the signature on the cedula of Rodríguez Quintero, says the complaint.

The checks issued in the name of Rodríguez Quintero were deposited in the accounts of La Gran Cadena Q and Shanghai Enterprise, S.A.

Judge Angela Russo was assigned as rapporteur for the two complaints

The Court has already admitted a previous complaint filed by Humbert against De Icaza,  for alleged illegal acts in contracts in the Assembly.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/another-lawmaker-charged-in-assembly-payroll-scam

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Battle lines drawn in Deputies contract scam

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Angelica Maytin
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Profligate lawmakers in the National Assembly continue to rail at the Executive over their slashed budgets including the millions for contracts and staffing which have become a thinly disguised umbrella for family hiring, or contracts for non-existent projects including handsome kickbacks.

A slew of them are facing criminal charges in the  Supreme Court thanks to audits by the Comptroller  General in spite of blocking attempts by the Assembly’s president. Yanibel Abrego.

Meanwhile, Angelica Maytin, director of the Transparency and Access to Information Authority (Antai), refuses to give up on her attempts to extract information from  Abrego.

She reiterated on Wednesday, September 26 that, to date, Antai has not obtained the 080 form reporting deputies multi-million dollar staffing expenditures.

Maytin said she received a letter from Ábrego, saying the form was suspended [by the Comptroller for non-compliance] and, therefore,  deputies did not have the obligation to provide it. “They are wrong,” said  Maytin who questioned that the only form available is that of April and not that of the months following

So, how have the officials been paid ? Where are the forms? Why are they not published?

Maytin said that that the dilatory process is moving towards administrative sanctioning process with a fine be imposed on the Assembly for not delivering that information.

The process that will  end up in the Supreme Court of Justice is being finalized, “It will be them [the Court] who will determine if the Antai is the appropriate entity to impose fines for not having delivered the information, ”

She reiterated that it is public access information. “We are going to continue doing our work, “she said. Form 080 is the one that contains the contracts for professional services of the personnel hired by   deputies and in which, according to investigation relatives of deputies and others  have  received fictitious contracts

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/battle-lines-drawn-in-deputies-contract-scam

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Comptroller continues freeze on Assembly staff payroll

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The Battle between pocket- lining lawmakers and Panama’s  Comptroller, Federico Humbert continues as the current session nears its end with the announcement  that 080 and 172 payrolls for deputies remain suspended “for failure to comply with the controls required by this auditing entity.”

“Any appointment made by the National Assembly must be ascribed to the multiple reiteration notes of the Comptroller which refer to the fulfillment of requirements for the hiring of personnel,” the Comptroller said in a statement.

The Comptroller’s Office says  it has demanded the following information on all l  appointments by the National Assembly: Identify the work location in which they will provide their services; Specify for which Deputy they work; Specify functions  that will be performed; Bear in mind that the work carried out by these public servants must be in accordance with the functions of the National Assembly; Because of their status as public servants, these personnel must not receive a salary lower than $600 a month; the daily signature of the public servant and acceptance of the Deputies must be recorded as responsible for the service being rendered; Staff cannot receive two or more salaries paid by the State, except in special cases determined by law; verify that the people included in this Form (080), are not beneficiaries of special subsidies from the State; submit proof of payment of salary to each public servant;”

“Unfortunately, the law does not allow us to prohibit the Assembly from appointing personnel; However, the law does allow us to put controls on their appointments to ensure the consideration of the service and we will remain firm and energetic with these demands, “said Humbert, in the statement.

“We have been firm in demanding from the National Assembly that it comply with all the controls presented by the Comptroller’s Office. Nobody can be included in the State’s list if it cannot be proven that a service is provided and the Assembly is not exempt from this requirement, “Humbert said adding that  at the time of an audit, any official of the Assembly who is not fulfilling his job, will be reported to the Public Ministry or presented to the Supreme Court of Justice, as the case may be. The Assembly is working with almost 5,000 fewer people and this has not affected its normal functioning: “What has been achieved in controls and savings has no way back,” said Humbert, adding that at the end of this year, the savings that will be achieved in the payroll amounts to about $70 million over last year

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/comptroller-continues-freeze-on-assembly-staff-payroll

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Pork barrel deputies spend $1.4 million monthly on staff

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Only Independent Deputy Ana Matilde Gpmez fails to raise her hand for more loot
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The publication of the National Assembly Form 002, which lists  transit and  support staff  for Panama’s big spending deputies many of whom are frequent no-shows at the “work” place has raised more questions from civil society and provided more ammunition  for the  “no to re-election” campaign

The form’s,  list of plunderers was published on Monday, on the website of the  Comptroller General.

Some of the more blatant examples of feeding at the public trough or creating jobs for the boys.  Listed in La Estrella are:

Héctor Valdés Carrasquilla, of circuit 8-6, in San Miguelito, of the Democratic Change Party (CD), with six veh

icle drivers are with salaries between $ 800 and $ 1,500 each.

Dana Castañeda, circuit 2-3, in Natá, Olá and La Pintada, in Coclé, CD, has five drivers

Panameñista Deputy Florentino Ábrego, has seven manual workers on his payroll, with salaries of between  $600 and$800.

Alfredo Pérez, of the PRD has six manual workers assigned to his office; Aibán Velarde, also of the PRD, other manual workers.

Ausencio Palacios, of the PRD; and Absalom Hererra, CD, they have each assigned to their offices five security agents tp their office,

 Crispiano Adames, PRD, has six secretaries with a salary of $ 1,000 each.

PRD  Deputy Iván Picota has five secretaries and four drivers.

Deputy Mario Lázarus, CD, who got a slap on the wrist after running down and killing a young girl and leaving the scene of the accident has five named inspectors on his payroll. While the PRD stalwart Pedro Miguel González, has appointed 12 administrative assistants. Juan Poveda, CD, has, seven people in the same role. The PRD  leader Benicio Robinson employs eleven community promoters. The Panameñistas José Castillo and José Antonio Domínguez have ten and nine community promoters, respectively.

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Annette Planells, of the Independent Movement (Movin), says the deputies continue to abuse the resources of the State.

“It is evident that they have excess personnel. There is no physical space for all the secretaries and assistants who have been appointed to work, there is no excuse for having more than one driver or six security agents, ” she said.

The lawyer Ernesto Cedeño said it is not justified that a deputy has several secretaries or multi[lr drivers and manual workers. “It would seem that there was duplicity of functions and, in my opinion, they should be investigated based on Article 349 of the Criminal Code, which indicates that the person who is appointed to a position and does not exercise it commits a crime,” he said.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/free-spemding-deputies-spend-1-4-million-monthly-on-duplicate-staff

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At least $808,888 in lawmakers’ scam

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Posted 10/02/2019
 
Over 300 checks totaling at least $808.888 dollars were cashed in the National Bank of Panama (BNP), from payrolls of the National Assembly ( AN).while 35 people who appear as beneficiaries of the checks declared that they did not sign or receive the money.

Sources linked to the case revealed to La Prensa that public prosecutors detected 29 differences between the signatures on the checks and those registered on the identity cards of people interviewed.

The investigation originated from a complaint lodged by the comptroller Federico Humbert for the alleged irregular collection of checks from the returns of the Assembly by a BNP cashier who changed 318 payroll checks for $ 08 888, from alleged payments to personnel included in the payroll of deputies.

After the statements of the interviewees and the irregular findings in the signatures, the prosecution requested experts from the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (Imelcf) to review the documents and certify the irregularities found so far.

T he process is still being investigated by the prosecutor's office, which to collect collects evidence to present before a judge of guarantees, to charge so that the latter charges the possible perpetrators of

The lawyer Carlos Muñoz Pope, advisor of the comptroller, and who accompanied him to the headquarters of the Attorney General's Office on the day he filed the complaint, then said that the corruption scheme implied that the same cashier changed every three months, or less, 20 checks of the payroll of the deputies.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/at-least-808888-in-lawmakers-scam

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Lawmakers’ staff  will have to clock-in - comptroller

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COMPTROLLER awaiting judicial action against deputies

Posted 21/02/2019
 
Deputies who have spent scores of millions of dollars on staff payrolls, including creating non-existent jobs as they dole out State funds to party insiders and relatives face are facing new controls imposed by Panama’s Comptroller General  Federico Humbert who has been fighting a lone battle with the National Assembly rulers.

Because his office cannot interrupt the inclusion of personnel in the National Assembly's schedules, new control rules have been introduced for the payment of employees.

Humbert explained that they are ensuring that "each person hired is providing a service."

Monitoring clocks have been placed in all the offices and those controls must be submitted to the Comptroller General that payroll can be paid.

When asked about the effects of the suspension of the forms such as 080, Humbert said that citizens should not think that everything is the same. "Nothing more distant from reality than a Panamanian may think that nothing has happened."

According to the comptroller, only from 2017 to 2018 the Panamanian State saved more than $60 million in reductions to the payroll.

When asked about consulted that the investigations not advancing in the judicial sphere, Humbert said recalled that he feels the same frustrations as the rest of the population. Reports La Prensa.

He said that the audits that the Comptroller presented have the correct support to carry out judicial processes. "I hope that they will start soon."

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/lawmakers-staff-will-have-to-clock-in-comptroller

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Comptroller reveals another phony jobs scandal

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Posted 22/02/2019

Some 30 people who receive salaries from Panamanian Autonomous Cooperative Institute (Ipacoop) but could not present the evidence of service performance will be the subject of a complaint filed with the Public Ministry by Panama Comptroller Federico Humbert.

He made the announcement on Thursday, February 21  during an inspection tour of the unfinished trouble plagued Amador Convention Center.

"Many employees who were given the authorization to work without having to go to the offices, authorizations that should not have been given," he said. The amount involved is over a million dollars.

A paid job with no work is known in Panama as a botella (bottle)and has been widely practiced by corrupt elected officials as a way of rewarding political supporters, or of lining their own pockets,

"We had a suspicion, when since we started the audit. Within two days there were about 10 people who resigned, who had four years of working there," Humbert said.added.

He added that "it will be up to the Public Prosecutor to do the investigations we are non-fiscal auditors. As we commonly call here in Panama, it seems that there were multiple bottellas there.” '

He pointed out that "in the same way that we oversee the National Assembly, we also supervise the executive and we will present the appropriate complaint, which is already being prepared by our lawyers," he said.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/comptroller-reveals-another-phony-jobs-scandal

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4 hours ago, Moderator_02 said:

Some 30 people who receive salaries from Panamanian Autonomous Cooperative Institute (Ipacoop) but could not present the evidence of service performance will be the subject of a complaint filed with the Public Ministry by Panama Comptroller Federico Humbert.

IPACOOP is the regulatory body that has been handling the liquidation of the COACECSS Credit Union in which many foreign residents had made high yield deposits.

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Six  Assembly officials  fingered in $3 million scam

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Posted 25/04/2019

Panama’s Comptroller General has laid six complaints with the  Public Ministry (MP) against officials of the  National Assembly who allegedly exchanged 2,279 checks intended for donations to constituency projects.

A  forensic audit report presented,  with the complaints calculates more than $3 million possible damage to the state judicial sources told La Prensa.

Checks were changed at the Banco Nacional de Panamá branch in the Los Pueblos hopping center, according to the sources.

The MP reported that it will review the information to initiate an investigation.

In March 2017 a  La Prensa investigation revealed that between July 2014 and December 2016, the Assembly managed $14 million in donations that, for the most part, did not reach the original petitioners.

The Foundation for the Development of Citizen Liberty, the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International, denounced five officials of the Assembly mentioned in the media report.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor opened an investigation, but four months later, because the Assembly did not provide the information requested by prosecutor Javier Miter Burgos, he requested the Judicial Branch to provisionally file the case.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/six-assembly-officials-fingered-in-3-million-scam-1

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lawmakers splurge 166 million taxpayer dollars

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Posted 26/04/2019

Over $166 million of taxpayer money   was used  by free-spending lawmakers from 2014 until April 24 of this year says a report published on the website  of Panama’s Comptroller on m published on Thursday, April 25

Nine deputies  each spent over $3 million in payrolls and donations, while 34 spent  between $2 million and $3 million adding support to the growing “NO to re-election” chorus from civil groups..;

The disclosure comes a day afof the information occurs just after the comptroller, Federico Humbert, presented new complaints in the  Public Ministry (MP) against 20 Assembly officials o and against deputies in the Supreme Court

The report shows that 10 deputies handled about $36.6 million between donations and payrolls. In this group, there are three former presidents of the Legislative, a general secretary of a political party and the current president of the Assembly.

The two times president of the l Assembly, the PRD deputy Rubén De León, was the one who spent most in payrolls and contracts, with $6.4 million.

Interestingly, 77% of this money was delivered in 2016, that is, during the same period in which De León held the position of president of the Assembly. reports La Prensa.

José Luis Varela, president of the Panameñista Party and brother of President  Juan Carlos Varela, was the deputy of his group that managed more money, adding almost $4 million.

Pedro Miguel González, current general secretary of the PRD, is the second largest fund manager in payrolls and donations, with $3.9 million, according to the report.

In 2016 alone, González used $1,680,000 of funds from the AN

The president of the PRD  deputy Benicio Robinson has one of the more expensive payrolls and aid of the Assembly: $3, 522,000

Robinson's beneficiaries include nine with the same surname: Sonia ($2,672), Ruth ($3,000), Robin ($ 12,563), José ($6,563), Jaime ($32,640), Eneida ($3,580), Edmundo ($10,727), Edilma ( $2,970) and Aurelia ($2,380).

Democratic Change secretary and current  Assembly presidentYanibel Ábrego, spent  $3 229,000  with 58% of this amount comes from payments to “payroll” of over  200 people.

Ábrego made $20,000 donations to the Community Board of Villa Rosario and Cirí Grande, both in  Capira where she is running for re-election-

 Humbert revealed that the audits that accompany the denunciations presented in the MP and the Supreme Court reveal "many irregular maneuvers" with the Legislative funds.

Humbert said among the irregular findings found "that a single deputy was given 160 checks of $3,000 in a single month."

He said that auditors also found "hundreds" of checks that were endorsed or changed with false signatures and others by people already deceased.

"We have given adequate support to the Court and the Public Ministry to bring the judicial proceedings to Assembly officials and deputies that were lent to the irregular management of public funds," said Humbert.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/lawmakers-splurge-166-million-taxpayer-dollars

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OPINION: Sanitizing the Assembly

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Posted 07/05/2019

Although the composition of the new National Assembly that will take office on July 1 is not fully defined, there are two aspects to be highlighted. The first is the existence of a small bench made up of independent deputies, which includes new political talents, among which stands out the youngest and most voted deputy of the whole country. This bench should be the standard bearer of institutional sanitation and the one that pushes a reform of the legislative body. At the same time, it must avoid being absorbed by the politicking and clientelism that reigns in the Assembly. These new faces contrast with the second aspect, and that is that the political party that won the Presidency of the Republic would also have an absolute majority in the legislative power. Although this gives governability to the new administration, It will also be necessary for the whole society to watch over it, so that democracy works and the rule of law is maintained. The new government must understand that those who gave their vote did not give him a blank check to do as he pleases. And the Assembly now has the opportunity to overcome its old vices and prevent new dilemmas – LA PRENSA, May 7

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-sanitizing-the-assembly

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Supreme Court KOs  Assembly  expenses appeal

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Abrego on the campaign trail

Posted 17/05/2019

The autocratic president of the National Assembly, Yanibel Ábrego, currently facing a challenge to her re-election as a deputy l has received another setback in her extended battle with the nation’s comptroller Federico Humbert.

 In a decision with five votes in favor, one against and three abstentions, the Supreme Court has denied an appeal presented by Abrego against a resolution of the comptroller that ordered the auditing of the 080 forms (bonuses, incentives and other services)   of the deputies.

The ruling of the CSJ clears the way for the Comptroller to execute the audit mainly in the periods corresponding to the presidency of Ábrego (2017-2019).

On May 15, 2018, Humbert ordered the audit and tÁbrego filed the Amparo, which prevented the work of the auditors.

Ábrego argued in the Amparo that the comptroller did not notify her in advance that he was conducting a concomitant investigation of the 080 forms and that for this reason, she violated due process.

The legal action of Ábrego led to the forensic auditors of the Comptroller's Office "not covering all the handling of money from payrolls and donations of the Assembly," said a statement from the audit institution.

20 complaints 
The Comptroller has submitted 20 complaints to the Supreme Court and the Public Prosecutor's Office for alleged mismanagement in the funds of the National Assembly ( corresponding to contracting in payrolls and donations managed by deputies. An audit of the Comptroller's Office revealed in last April  that the Assembly managed between $201 million and $166 million in payroll and donation payments between 2014 and 2019.

Form 080 contains the  staff of the deputies, hired through an allocation that went up from $4,000  to $30,000   per month for each deputy.

At the end of April 2019, the Comptroller's Office published on its website the details of the expenses incurred by deputies between 2014 and 2019 in payrolls and donations. The information revealed that the deputies used more than $166 million in these two items and that children, brothers, fathers, and husbands of several deputies were among those named.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/supreme-court-kos-assembly-expenses-appeal

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