CD candidates got election scholarship bonanza

THE INSTITUTE for Training and Development of Human Resources (IFARHU), is the latest institution to come under investigation for alleged “irregularities” in its administration during the Ricardo Martinelli era.

 The Fourth Anticorruption prosecutor has taken affidavits from the internal auditors of the institution over the management and delivery of grants and financial assistance in the amount of $640,000 /
IFARHU attorneys, filed acomplaint of commission of offenses against public administration against the former director Sonia Luzcando and four other former officials of the previous administration.

William Parodi, prosecutor in charge of the investigation, has called officiala to testify over the granting of scholarships to then deputies Miguel Fanovich and Rogelio Baruco in the province of Chiriqui.
Sources of the Public Ministry (MP) told La Prensa that after these analyzes and statements of officials, the next step is to request an audit of the Comptroller General of the Republic so the prosecution could demarcate legal responsibilities for those linked to the alleged anomalies.
The complaint also states that candidates for deputies of Democratic Change, Ana Giselle Rosas Vallarino, Manuel Ruiz and Omar Castillo, were awarded scholarships during the months of the 2014 election campaign
IFARHU lawyers felt that the established process for the allocation of scholarships were violated.
La Estrella de Panama reports thar according to the complaints, the orders Sonia Luzcando came directly from the Democratic Change party.
Luzcando sent the information to Roger Clarke, deputy director of the institution, who in turn was responsible for passing it Jamny Samudio, Director of Scholarships.
These officials were responsible for providing blank forms to candidates. The documentation was completed in the respective political offices of and sent back to the institution, just for signing and meet the paperwork requirements Once at headquarters, the forms were not subject to review and the respective payment was authorized.
According to research, only in the months before the 2014 election, 48,000 scholarships were distributed under the name of ‘financial assistance’, which amounted to a disbursement of $27.2 million.
This represents an increase of $20 million over the disbursements in 2009 when Ricardo Martinelli took office