Detention order for Martinelli messenger

A PREVENTETIVE DETENTION order has been issued against the former private secretary of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli, allegedd to have been the messenger who delivered orders from the president to the directors of the National Assistance Program (PAN).

   The order for the detention of Adolfo ‘Chichi’ De Obarrio, came Sunday, February 1 from the Second Anticorruption Prosecutor, Vielka Broce, who last week filed charges of of embezzlement, corruption and fraud in procurement,through contracts for the acquisition of dehydrated food for public school pupils. Currently Obarrio is outside the country in the United States. Martinelli, after being told that The Central American Parliament, did not provide him with immunity, flew in his private jet from Guatemala to Italy after giving power of attorney for his business empire to his wife and brother.
Panama’s Supreme Court has admitted acriminal case against Martinelli for embezzlement
Obarrio’s lawyer Edna Ramos said her client “will return when the relevant conditions and guarantees are met”.
Last week Vielka Broce, in charge of that office, ordered his preliminary statement as part of the process followed by irregularities in the PAN.
The investigation is based on remarks made by the former director of PAN Giacomo Tamburrelli when he expanded his investigation statement’s on January 26.
According to Tamburrelli, the companies that won the distribution of food contravts were suggested by De Obarrio.
Tamburrelli is one of two former PAN now under investigation. Rafael Guardia Jaén, facing corruption charges, is being held in La Gran Joya prison
Both have pointed to Chichi De Obarrio and Ricardo Martinelli when answering questions about who made the decisions in the PAN.
Guardia Jaén told prosecutors he became director of the PAN because he was recommended “with the help of Mr. Chichi De Obarrio, who, in turn, recommended me to the President to assume that position and in this situation I followed his instructions.”
Meanwhile, the defense of De Obarrio reported that this week will present legal action against the declaration of interrogation and detention order.