Financial Pacific scandal: Criminal complaint against ex-director

 A CRIMINAL complaint has been issued by the Superintendency of Market Securities (SMV) against a former director Ignacio Fábrega, who just after submitting his resignation to the regulator admitted that he had plans to work for scandal ridden Financial Pacific.

In 2012 the workings of Financial Pacific (FP) rocked the local and regional financial system. The case began with a report of embezzlement of $12 million in which so far the only accused is Mayte Pellegrini, a former employee of the brokerage.
Once detained, Pellegrino said the company had a secret account called High Spirit, belonging to the then President Ricardo Martinelli, “which has been opened” to manipulate shares of Petaquilla in the stock market.
The regulator claims Fábrega, revealed confidential, proprietary and confidential information while serving as SMV oversight director oversight SMV according to anonymous reports to the regulator
The complaints said, Fábrega, while still an SMV official, provided information to regulated companies.
This would enable them to anticipate what would be the instructions of the board of the SMV, and guide them how to answer the requirements of the regulator or how to deal with customer complaints. He may even have unveiled reports requested by the prosecution in a case involving Financial Pacific, says a La Prensa report
All this would have been done through ifabrega@supervalores.gob.pa mail.
If true, Fábrega could be accused of crimes against the public administration, in particular those relating to corruption of public servants.
The seriousness of the alleged acts led the SMV to ask the Fourth Anticorruption Prosecutor to make an “urgent” inspection of the computer assigned to the former Director of Supervision since joining the regulator in August 2010, one year after the start of the administration of Ricardo Martinelli.
The criminal complaint reflects a weakening in the institutionalization of SMV, an organization that in the past, far from being involved in corruption, was linked to technical matters of the stock market says La Prensa.
The department headed by Fábrega, was responsible for monitoring the performance of securities firms, brokers, analysts and senior executives of regulated firms. It was a responsibility that provided knowledge of the administrative failures that led to the seizure and subsequent liquidation of the FP brokerage
The deteriorating relationship between the SMV team and Fábrega was highlighted after his resignation as Director of Supervision on June 30, 2014.
Two days after his departure, the SMV ordered its intervention in FP. When Fábrega’s former colleagues visited the FP offices, they were surprised to find him there.
The intervener, Dalys Teran, took control of Financial Pacific and Fábrega was identified as a  director.
In a July 9 story in La Prensa Fábrega acknowledged his presence in Financial Pacific at the time, but refrained from mentioninghat he was already on the payroll of the company.
“I submitted my resignation June 30 and on July 1 receive a call from someone asking me if I had any trouble meeting them [Financial Pacific].
“Once in contact with the directors they asked if I could advise them. I told them, at first I was definitely interested …I had no relationship with the Superintendency.”

After the 2012 scandal of the missing $12 million dollars and crimes related to money laundering and fraud, SMV clamped down on the brokerage and its partners Clare West and Iván Valdés.

In 2013, FP was sold to the Brazilian group Mendo Sampaio . In 2014  it was forced to liquidate
The officials of the Superintendence of Securities (VPS) are openly afraid of connection with FP irregularities since 2012, specifically with employees working under the direction of Supervision when asked about the case, says La Prensa.
Vernon Ramos disappeared on November 16, 2012, after presenting a report of the financial state of the brokerage to members of the board of SMV.
On June 17, 2014, Gustavo Gordon, an officer of the Superintendency of Securities, was stabbed near Urraca Park, on his way to the offices of Financial Pacific.
Gordon was to testify before the Thirteenth prosecution for the trial of Mayte Pellegrini, accused of financial crimes to the detriment of the brokerage.
Ignacio Fabrega, told La Prensa he does not believe that the Ramos disappearance or the Gordon incident have any relationship with Financial Pacific.