Ex-tourism boss and “ghost” payroll

SALOMON SHAMAH the former administrator of Panama’s Tourism Authority of Panama(ATP), and the man widely believed to be the eminence gris behind the Martinelli led CD party’s election dirty tricks programs, is the latest high profile figure of the previous administration to become the target of investigation into financial irregularities

The current administrator, Jesus Sierra, will present the first two complaints with the Public Ministry (MP) on Tuesday January 20.
Of the 18 records to be sent to MP in the coming months, the first two have to do with the hiring of consultants and “ghost”. Officials.
A consulting contract for $600,000 was found, but there is no evidence that the institution received any services reports La Prensa.
There is no record of the appearance in the institution over five years of an official who was on the payroll with a salary of more than $5,000 a month
“He was on the ATP payroll, but apparently worked at the Presidency; and dlivered reports of his work did not exceed three pages, “said Sierra.
He declined to provide the names of the persons to be reported, so as not obstruct investigations be undertaken by the MP but, he said there will be certainty of punishment for people and officials who negligently used state resources.
In total, contracts for $75 million are being investigated.
Most contracts have already been canceled but in some cases there is no record of them having received clearance from the administration.
During the management of Shamah was paid a million dollars was paid for the preparation and maintenance of a website.
Services were identified that were renewed every year, at a higher cost,. One such case would be the creation and management of web visitpanama.com where ATP hired directly from Pensanómica, SA. In May 2012 the company was paid $447,000 thousand for the creation and management of the site. In March 2013 another $600,000 for the same services.
In total, the institution over a million dollars in 24 months for a service that experts consulted by La Prensa should not exceed $ 100,000.
Currently, the page is being redesigned by technical personnel of the ATP, which is also modifying social networks used by the government to promote tourist attractions in the country.
According to Sierra, the mode you used last administration was contracting services for less than $300,000, thus bypassing the National Tourism Council, a body which must approve all state contracts when they exceed that amount.
To expedite the review of records, the ATP asked the new Comptroller, Federico Humbert, to designate additional staff to expedite audits as there are contracts that were signed in Panama, but with services provided abroad.