Background to ex-president investigation

La Prensa, which has played a major investigative journalism role in covering the business activities of Ernesto Perez Balladares, published an explanation on Wednesday of why the former president is under investigation.
"Ernesto Pérez Balladares is being investigated by the special prosecutor against organized crime because he was in control of large sums of money without a cause or reason.

"Specifically, the former president was linked to two shell companies, Shelf Holding and PTY Adventures, that had no commercial activity, yet they regularly received large sums of money from another company, Lucky Games, which was a shareholder in a company that operated slot machine gaming rooms in the country.
"Those gaming rooms were licensed by Balladares, who granted them "no bid" contracts to open them.

"The investigation is focused on why the complicated structure was created to facilitate the financial transactions.

"It will also focus on the license granted to Lucky Games. These gaming licenses are issued by the state to generate revenue for the government. If the contract issued to Lucky Games circumvented that requirement, its issuance would be in violation of the law.

"Furthermore, if Lucky Games made payments to Balladares, that would also be against the law.

"Balladares has been investigated in the past for his connection to Lucky Games, and he has been cleared of any wrongdoing by prosecutors.

"This investigation, however, focuses solely on the relationship among Shelf Holding, PTY Adventures and Lucky Games, and Balladares' relationship to those companies.

"In short, it will focus on whether the former president had an interest in a private business that was granted a contract by his administration without paying the required fees. And whether the president subsequently used shell companies to try and hide that relationship, as well as the proceeds that resulted from it."