Figali in court October facing forgery and money laundering charges

Colombian businessman Jean Figali,  will get his day in court, October 7  for a preliminary hearing of  charges  of forgery and money laundering.

Figali, who  was earlier held in jail is now under an injunction that prevents  him from leaving the country and has to report to the court twice a month. He has been investigated by the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime.

The charges are based on Figali transferring 67 vouchers totaling $1 million  from a personal account to another  company name linked to drug trafficking and for which he also appears as a signatory.

He also received checks from another company called Events and Promotions, Inc., run by Aurora Ruiz Rivera and Aurelio Mosquera, both arrested in Panama and extradited to the United States for drug trafficking and money laundering.

The forgery charge came after police located a passport in his name, partially burned and with a record of departure of July 6, the date he was arrested  in Chiriquí, after disappearing from Panama city. A warrant for his arrest  had been issued by the then Prosecutor, José Ayú Prado.