Jail sentence for Panama bribery suspect confirmed by Italy Supreme Court.

VALTER LAVÍTOLA a key player in transactions between the Panamanian government and Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica , has had his jail sentence confirmed by the Italian Supreme Court.

The three years and eight months sentence  was agreed in November 2012 by Italian prosecutors Vincenzo Piscitelli and Henry John Woodcock, as part of the process following the embezzlement of 23 million euros ( 29.5 million today) that the Italian State illegally paid to Lavitola’s newspaper Avanti,  between 1997 and 2008.

The man who boasted friendship with President Ricardo Martinelli has another sentence of one year and four months trying to extort money from disgraced former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Lavítola is also under investigation with Paolo Pozzessere, former president of Finmeccanica, over international corruption in Panama, for allegedly paying bribes to Panamanian officials for awarding contracts to Italian companies.
The go-between enjoyed house arrest until just before Christmas when he was taken to jail after allegations that he broke detention rules. He and Poggioreale are accused of extortion, in this case, involving the company Impregilo, one of the companies involved in the expansion of the Panama Canal.