Multi million corruption allegations have politicians scrambling

Another corruption scandal is bedeviling opposition and government politicians and a high ranking official who sat on a auditor’s report that revealed improprieties in a fund created to help poor people.

Giacomo Tamburrelli, director of the FIS (Social Investment Fund) who ordered an audit of the system has been accused of a cover up of revelations of a $12 million fraud involving legislators and, according to former comptroller Carlos Vallarino, may have been guilty of a crime for not providing the information of to the current comptroller.
Details of the audits findings identifying millions of dollars of mismanaged funds were made public by La Prensa, Leading to to a flood of contradictory statements by government spokesmen and legislators, This led Tamburrelli, to call a press conference to try clear up the confusion.
Tamburrelli said that he hired a consulting firm,  paid with state funds, to "find out the administrative and financial status" of the FIS.
He praised the company’s work, and said that “ many things came to light." Among the findings, according to the official, were 38 poorly-executed projects worth an estimated $27 million that were conducted during the administrations of former presidents Mireya Moscoso and Martín Torrijos, as well as outstanding funds of $4 million owed to the FIS.
“I was also informed of 18 expired security bonds" he said, which added an additional $9 million to the figure of mismanaged funds.
However, when talking to auditors assigned by the government, said La Prensa, Tamburrelli had a different opinion, suggesting that in the case of alleged $12 million frauds involving legislators, the consultants did notperform the work for which they were hired.
"They were required to study the workings of the FIS and present results on the administration and finances.”
When he was presented with the final report on the legislators, “That was not what you were contracted for."
When asked why he did not reveal the contents of the audit results to the public, the FIS Director replied that he first wanted to review the contents of the documents with the internal auditing department of the FIS and the Comptroller, as the content matter was extremely sensitive as it revealed millions of dollars worth of alleged illegal dealings.
Later La Prensa revealed that the assistant secretary of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, received from the Social Investment Fund (SIF) a strong political push from the government of Martín Torrijos in the months preceding the last election. Even so, he failed to to get re elected.
Notes for payment, contracts, invoices and checks issued by the FIS officials revealed that Gonzalez as a PRD congressman received between late 2008 and May 2009, approvals for projects totaling $622,543 over $100,000 month that should go to the most needy of the country, La Prensa revealed.
Instead it went to special projects all approved by the former director Israel Francisco Rodriguez, and all sent by direct invitation to a single company, Northern Projects Ltd.

The projects were managed by a foundation Fundecmar, chaired by the nephew of Gonzalez,  Quibian Panay, who was re-elected.
There were  three approved projects totaling $50 thousand dollars each. Three invoices with different numbers showed the same amount $49,896 and the same description of the project "Rehabilitation of rural roads in the districts of Calobre and San Francisco."

All approvals for these works were verified by the audit office of the comptroller in the FIS.

Fabian Morales, representative of Northern Projects, said he worked on several of projects of former deputy Gonzalez.He said the company delivered all that was required in the contracts, and that the amounts varied depending on the type of road. But Morales could not explain why three of the checks drawn by the FIS had identical amount s and the location was the same.

According to information contained in the report, letters were  written asking for help to social needs and infrastructure projects in the districts of Calobre, Santa Fe, San Francisco and Cañazas in Veraguas.

La Prensa tried but failed to speak with Gonzalez, but the former congressman spoke to a television station and said the external audit was invalid.

He said the only thing that showed was that the government of Mireya Moscoso created a "discriminatory" system for deputies, something that has been maintained to date.
Meanwhile, his nephew told reporters that only Fundecmar was an applicant for social assistance, and that among the projects that he worked "there are several of Pedro Miguel [Gonzalez]."

"But the foundation never handled the money, nor made payments," he said in defense of his uncle.

Another point raised by the external auditors of the FIS, backed by official documents, said La Prensa, provides that payments and purchase orders lacked date, company name, address, credit and delivery record.
Prosecutor Boris Barrios, is reviewing complaints about the alleged use of resources from the (FIS) by some members to finance the last election campaign.

In the documentation for the audit which was the basis for the investigation by La Prensa, it was  found that several deputies, including had received checks that were issued by the FIS for social assistance but used to payfor staff who worked on the  Gonzalez campaigns.

A former  Electoral Tribunal judge Guillermo Márquez Amado said that there is merit to begin an investigation, and that candidates should not have this public money to finance political campaigns, according to  the Constitution and Electoral Code.