OFF THE CUFF: Scams suspected in diablos rojos pay out

THERE WERE over 400 “irregularities” in the $ 96 million pay out by the Martinelli administration to get the Diablos Rojos (Red Devils) buses off the roads in the districts of Panama and San Miguelito.

 The money was paid out between 2010 and July 2014, nut the anomalies may have cost the state over $30 million, with reports circulating of double payments and old bangers being acquired to pick up $25,000 per vehicle.
The lawyer of a group of users and drivers, Victor Martinez, said that the numbers given by ATTT for the compensation are higher than that previously disclosed and there is still no report by the Comptroller to establish the amount.
In May 2014, the Comptroller sent to the Fourth Anti-Corruption Prosecutor a preliminary report of an audit, which revealed irregularities in 400 compensation processes.
In this report they detected abnormalities that could exceed $30 million damage.to the state .
A group of taxi drivers, protested in front of the Public Ministry (MP) on June 24, to request the investigation of the amount that was actually disbursed by the government in this process.
The constant complaints filed by this issue forced the MP to assign a special prosecutor to advance the summaries which relate to the compensation process.
In the meantime the ATTT is planning a series of blitzes on diablos rojos running from routes outside the city. A recent check found buses carrying illegal,ghetto blasters, others with no insurance and unpaid fines, and some unlicensed. All drivers stopped were obliged to take a breathalyzer