By Mario Hubert Garrido
Correspondent for Prensa Latina in Panama
Some experts claim that the allegation of taking multi-million dollar bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht stems from an investigation proven six years ago, but at the time the Panamanian judiciary, hijacked by the executive and legislature, failed to accept.
On May 20, Judge Raymond Dearie of New York sentenced 36 months in prison to brothers Ricardo Alberto (42 years old) and Luis Enrique (39 years old) who were accused of money laundering, a crime they explained, from the father having been forced to make the illegal transfers in her name in American and European banks.
At the hearing, the defense was responsible for stressing that the orders came directly from the former president, but the question now is what will happen in Panama?
THE THREAD OF THE PROCESS
For lawyer Francisco Carreira, the investigation should have started in 2016, when mention was made of the company’s guilty pleas and network existing in Channel Country.
In statements to the press, he recalled that not only politicians but also bankers and lawyers were involved in the case, which illustrates the crisis within the Panamanian judiciary.
In this context, he warned that in the United States there are charges against 12 people, including the Martinelli Linares brothers, for whom the names of 10 citizens are yet to be released when they are arrested.
He commented that the billionaire exmandatario is not part of any trial, not even the verdict, that indicates what the country should have investigated, but it is others who point to how to proceed.
However, he believed at least the seizure of funds was important and demanded that Panama should collect the money obtained through bribery and become part of the process, which it has not done.
There is, the lawyer reflected, a major crisis in the justice system that is obviously more concerned with protecting people than looking for the profiteers. For Carreira, the intention seems to be to wait for the end of the Odebrecht case in order to grant impunity to a large number of people who should be charged.
OTHER GOVERNMENTS
The Odebrecht case, other researchers indicated, affects at least three governments in Panama: alongside Martinelli, his successor Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019) and the current Laurentino Cortizo (2019-2024).
Lawyer Abel Arcia told TVN’s Radar program that one of the things that most caught his attention during the trial was the way the construction company was operating, alluding to the “political campaign” fundraising program – in the plural – on. which the company then capitalized by awarding overpriced public mega works.
The US prosecutor said Odebrecht had corruptly paid “many people”. Who has clean hands in Panama? Who shuts the cage door? the specialist wondered, realizing that the biggest casualties in this whole plot are the people who have to pay the debt for the cost overruns.
FOLLOW THE CASE IN PANAMA
According to analyst Rodrigo Noriega, the Panamanian state should open another case over the undisclosed funds and hire lawyers who will represent the Isthmian country’s interests in other nations such as the United States, Spain, Switzerland and even the Principality of Andorra. and recover the amounts in this way.
“This is the maximum sentence for any confessed defendant in the Odebrecht case, and the preliminary hearing in Panama hasn’t even started yet. It’s a shame for the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Carlos Barsallo, attorney and president of the Institute for Corporate Governance, also believed that this US ruling and the details released “should have an impact on the case being prosecuted in Panama”.
The Martinelli Linares will spend 13 months in a US prison to complete their 36-month sentences. They then have to complete a two-year probationary period.
Meanwhile, the Panamanian people will barely live to see the accused’s hearing next June after several postponed dates, six years after the scandal broke and four years after the Panamanian prosecutor’s office reached an agreement with the Brazilian company.
As lawyer Luis Guerra notes in his recent article “Hidden Agreement Not Yet Revealed” published in El Periódico de Panamá, this complicit context helps the perpetrator or perpetrators of a criminal act with the awareness that he or she is acting for another collaborating in another’s crime.
In his opinion, the sentence opens other chapters for the participants; importantly, justice systems need to broadcast functionality, efficiency and relevance.
work./ga