EX PAN DIRECTOR REVEALS NAMES, READY TO TELL ALL

RAFAEL GUARDIA former -director of the National Assistance Program (PAN) who is reported to have received death threats while in jail, has accepted responsibility and is cooperating with the First Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, investigating the purchase of bags of rice with cost overruns during the government of Ricardo Martinelli.

 Victor Orobir, Guardia’s lawyer, told media on Friday. January 23, that his client has agreed to cooperate with authorities investigating the case.
Orobio said that his client even revealed to the Prosecutor Vielka Broce, a list of goods that were not in her file, and named banks and the Public Registry authorized to transfer the properties to the State without mishap.
 He said Guardia official told the prosecutor, how the events unfolded after he arrived at PAN, and who were participants in the irregularities. According  to Orobio, his client gave “nine, ten, twelve” names, of officials and people from the private sector.
“He said he would cooperate fully and transparently” Orobio said.
According to the defense lawyer, Guardia decided to declare his own culpability forthe sake of  his “conscience”.At previous hearings he had sheltered behind a law allowing him not to give answers that would incriante him,
 “He wants to show the country that he  is a person with feelings and recognizes his error”.
On Monday, Guardia will return to continue the investigation in the Third Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, where he is being investigated for irregularities in a contract to purchase tires for vehicles for the state.
Other events developed in the evening, reports La Prensa when Edna Ramos attorney for Adolfo de Obarrio, former executive secretary to Martinelli went to see the First Anticorruption Prosecutor.
 Ramos said she went to the prosecutor for accreditation as an agent of Obarrio, because they found out from the media that her client was mentioned.
However, Ramos said she was not allowed to access the file.
According to Ramos, Obarrio is mentioned in only four of the 11 cases  under investigation.
Earlier in the PAN scandal, an unidentified witness claimed that Obarrio was the channel through which funds acquired through PAN were funneled..
Late TV and radio reports said that a businesswoman, named by Guardia, was detained at Tocumen International Airport as she attempted to leave the country.

Meanwhile Guardia was returned to La Gran Joya Prison under under tight security involving three pick up trucks filled with police.