Back tax collecting scandal goes to prosecutors

DETAILS of an audit of the Cobranzas del Istmo which picked up $47.1 million in commissions for collecting back taxes in Panama, have been sent to prosecutors investigating the company’s activities ans the comapany’s assets have been seized.

A raid on the company’s office was carried out  on April 1 and seizure made of  movable and immovable property, bank accounts, deposits and time deposits movable and immovable property, bank accounts, deposits and time deposits were seized.

The audit, carried out by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) has found that the company, may have been drastically overpaid and should have received only around half that amount.

The company, which received the contract in 2010, received commissions of 30 percent on payments made by at least 30 companies when the actual rate should have been far lower, or no commission should have been paid at all.
The contract stated that the rate of commission would depend on the length of time the money was owed. For 12 to 18 months, the commission would be 15 percent; 18 to 24 months, 20 percent; 24 and 30 months, 25 percent; and more than 30 months 30 percent.
Among alleged irregularities detected by the audit were commissions paid on debts that were not yet a year old, which should have never been handled by the agency, and the paying of the 30 percent commission on debts that were less than 30 months old reports La Prensa.
There are also questions that have been raised about the commission the company received from Tocumen S.A., which operates Tocumen International Airport. As a state-owned agency, officials have said that the company should not have been eligible for a commission, which was more than $20 million.
Tocumen paid off fees it owed to the treasury through a bond issue to fund the airport’s expansion.
 Airport authorities said they had no idea that Cobranzas Del Istmo would receive any commission when the payment was made. The commission received by the company in that case was also apparently improperly calculated. President Juan Carlos Varela has said publicly, that the money must be returned to the state.