New Italian arrest tightens noose in alleged Panama bribery case
Capriott Angelo, head of the Svemark consortium responsible for the construction of modular prisons in Panama, was arrested on Thursday, March 7 at Zurich airport in Switzerland.
The news comes from Grupo Prisa correspondent Joan Solés and provided to Radio Panama.
Solés reported the arrest was made by agents of the Special Operations Division of the Italian police in collaboration with the Swiss at the request of the Prosecutor of Naples.
Capriotti is charged in the investigation by the Naples Prosecutor of international corruption in Panama, with of alleged payments of up to $28 million in"bribes" of senior goveernment officials. Valter Lavítola was arrested earlier as an intermediary.
Lavítola, who played a key role in the formalization of contracts between Finmeccanica Panama and $250 million for the purchase of 19 radars, six helicopters and a digital map was arrested last year on charges of extortion of former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, and has received a two year jail sentence.
Italian news agencies indicate that judicial sources have reported that they have paid at least $ 700 thousand to representatives of the Panamanian government Almost all Finmeccanica executives are now in cells or under house arrest.
