PAN money-laundering trial of 17 postponed
The First Settlement Court for Criminal Cases suspended Tuesday, the trial of 17 people, including the former director of the National Aid Program (PAN), Rafael Guardia Jaén, for alleged money laundering.
The decision was adopted after the court did not resolve the evidence order to be used during the trial, which was scheduled to be held between September 12 and 14.
Judicial sources explained that some of the defense lawyers presented a l number of documentary and testimonial evidence that had not been admitted by the court, which led to the suspension of the trial.
Among those called to trial are Rafael Guardia Jaén and his children Lorraine Brigitte Guardia Juárez and Jonathan Guardia Andrión, who, according to the prosecution, created companies and cashed checks to acquire movable and immovable property with PAN funds.
Also among those called to trial are the former PAN purchasing chief, Rafael Williams, as well as Charles Sadat Bonilla, Javier Óscar Cachafeiro, Mónica Andrade, Carlos Ramos, Mónica Peralta, Rosa González, Boris Zeballos and Pacífico González, among others.
In the case, the prosecution alleged that the crime preceding money laundering was embezzlement and that this was consummated through the assignment of contracts through the PAN, some of which were overpriced or were not fully executed.
Guardia Jaén reached a collaboration agreement and a sentence of 60 months in prison, after providing the prosecutor with information on the 12 investigations opened for different anomalies in the management of PAN funds.
