$2 million dollars “contract” for titling scam

THE NAMES of all the players in the Paitilla land scandal that rocked Panama in 2011 have surfaced again as one of the central figures  broke ranks and  gave his insider version of the story, apparently  substantiating whispered rumors that have circulated for three years.  

In an interview on Telemetro Tuesday, July 22,, florist César Segura broke his silence on the sale of the controversial parcel of land in Paitilla that ended with him and several others in jail.

Segura said he negotiated the titling of the land in exchange for a contract that would pay him nearly $2 million. He said the payments, which were never made, would have come from businessman Gabriel Gaby Btesh and businessman and former Vice President Felipe Virzi.

Segura said that both men were “allies” and “friends” of former President Ricardo Martinelli.

But when news of the controversial titling of the land broke, Segura and others were left to handle the consequences Segura was arrested and detained for two weeks along with former National Land Authority Director Anabelle Villamonte and Ferreira. They were charged with falsification of documents, but the Second Tribunal confirmed a definitive stay of proceedings in favor of the defendants.

Villamonte was cleared by a newly appointed judge,Hilda Bonilla,  in a ruling that anti-corruption Prosecutor Victor Barrios called “strange” and in appealing th decision  questioned the definition of Bonilla, who argued that it was was an “administrative error” because it was proven that Villamonte had full knowledge of the procedures done by Segura.
Similarly, Barrios considered it “strange” that the court concluded that the documents submitted by Segura for this procedure did not contain falsehoods, which in his opinion is contrary to specialized expertise that was performed during the investigation. 

The contract, signed by Segura and lawyer Francisco Pérez Ferreira, established the payment of $1.9 million in exchange for the land. This payment was divided into cash and real estate: He was promised payments of $10,000, $20,000 and $385,000, as well as three apartments valued at between $260,000 and $650,000.

According to Segura, the buyers claimed that the money was spent on legal fees that were incurred once an investigation was opened into the titling of the land, which was declared to be illegal and resulted in the property being taken over by the state and turned into a park, which is currently a center of controversy  over its naming after former Governor Mayte Correa, a Martinelli insider.

Segura also said one of the apartments, in the H2O building, was taken by Martinelli in conjunction with former Minister of the Presidency Demetrio Papadimitriu and given to former government official Rodrigo Sarasqueta.

He never saw any paperwork on the second apartment, but said he was granted the papers of the company that owned the third one, but not given the company’s shares. He is trying to sell it and evict the person who is living there.

THREATS
“The purpose of them was to threaten me, stating I would spend up to 20 years in prison if I did not return the real estate,” he said.

He said government officials went to visit him in prison to pressure him into returning the property.He said that he decided to give up “because it was the government… because they could put me in jail.”

“They promised me everything while I was inside the prison.” Then, when I  got out and met the purpose they wanted, they failed me”,  he said.

Segura said he could be a victim of retribution from  Btesh, Virzi, Papadimitriu and Sarasqueta, but added:  “I am not afraid of them.”Segura made a call to President Juan Carlos Varela to meet with him to discuss the situation and open an investigation into it, reports La Prensa.

REACTIONS
After hearing the interview, lawyer Gonzalo Moncada Luna, on behalf of Papadimitriu, reported that Segura may be sued for defamation, and that Papadimitriu had nothing to do with this case. Villamonte was a lawyer who before being appointed to Anati, worked for the Papadimitriu familyand  was also charged and acquitted in another titling scandal in Juan Hombros

Sarasqueta, through his Twitter account, announced that he will also be considering legal action, saying “this falsehood against me cannot go unpunished.”