OFF THE CUFF: Arrests expand in Panama scandals

BUSINESSMAN Carlos “Caneto” Araúz, under investigation for alleged irregularities in the purchase of bags of food through the National Aid Program (PAN), is one of the ever expanding group of prominent citizens with close contacts with the Ricardo Martinelli administration who are now under some form of arrest.

Araúz was moved to house arrest Friday May 15. He was taken into custody Feb. 24
Prosecutors have also requested the pre-trial detention of co-defendant Juan Carlos Marciaga.
Others are languishing in La Gran Joya prison, the Renacer Prison or the Women’s prison. Some are in police cells in Ancon, or in the cells of the DIJ.
The more fortunate are under house arrest or “country arrest”, which means they cannot leave Panama, and have to report to the authorities at regular intervals.
An audit has estimated the economic damage to the state through the cost overruns to be $33 million. Contracts issued between 2009 and 2014 are being investigated.
In some cases, it is being questioned as to whether any food was even delivered under some of the contracts.
Speculation is rife on how many of the entrepereneurial alleged robbers from the public purse on the backs of their underprivileged fellow citizens will finally end up with real jail sentences.