Officials confession smoking gun in Martinelli saga?

IS IGNACIO FABREGA is the “smoking gun” that will finally ensnare former president Ricardo Martinelli? After the former official’s plea of guilty to his involvement in the Financial Pacific(FP) scandal, and his announcement that Martinelli and his dirty tricks cohort Salomon Shamah” became the de facto controllers of the troubled brokerage, the question is on the lips of political commentators of all shades, with the possible exception of Martinelli mouthpiece Luis Camacho.

The doors have opened wide for new investigations into events that include the “disappearance” of one key witness, the stabbing of another and threats leading to the resignation of yet another. Add to that Break-ins to the brokerage office, disappearing files, and the jailing of middle management employee,Pellegrini who pointed fingers at Martinelli, and claimed that the current Supreme Court president Ayu Prado and Shamah tried to get her to withdraw her allegations.    
 

A toxic mix that would stretch the abilities of the best Hollywood film director to encapsulate into one understandable movie, but the strands could make up an enduring series to rival The Sopranos with a stand in for a former president in the starring (sic) role.
As LaPrensa asked this week Who would buy a company that faced a $12 million embezzlement. Who would embark on the rebuilding of a company accused of money laundering ? Who would appropriate a business that did not have an active license to operate? The answer from the financial community is “no one in his right mind.”
But in February 2013, amid the storm that began in 2012 and against all odds, Brazilain group Mendo Sampaio appeared as the “sole owner” of FP. There were no receptions press conferences or interviews to introduce the guardian angel.
Two years after the arrival of Mendo Sampaio, and after it was discovered that Fabrega, former director of supervision of the Superintendency of Securities (VPS), provided them with confidential information, including details of the mysterious entry of the new owners and what La Prensa described as the intervention of “distinctive characters.”
During a hearing in which he pleaded guilty to the crime of corruption of officials, Fabrega put names to the characters – Ricardo Martinelli and ex-tourism manager Salomon Shamah.
Fabrega was responsible for overseeing FP’’s operations while acting as a double agent warning them of each investigation by the SMV.
This week he told judicial authorities, that Shamah and Martinelli and contributed $3 million each, while the other Brazilian partners gave $4 million, thus introducing liquidity to the after its previous owners, Ivan West and Clare Valdes walked away unscathed, and its operating license was restored.
The company, given its precarious situation, had nowhere near that value, so it is presumed that the contribution would be used to compensate for the embezzled $12 million. Back, in 2013, when Martinelli still strutted on what he thought was the world stage, La Prensa warned of the unusual presence of Mendo Sampaio, with no obvious Panama partners already deeply involved in the country. La Prensa has detailed Odebrecht links with Mendo Sampaio, SA through a network of companies tied up with Rio Claro Agroindustrial, SA producing ethanol.
In Panama there was always curiousity about how Mendo Sampaio came to the country.
“The group had no experience or skills in the business. Its management did not create any positive difference and instead the irregularities found under of Clare and Valdes deepened.
In the middle of last year, when Pacific Financial was investigated a second time by the SMV, one of its executives erased sensitive information stored in the archives. Transactions and names of investors and correspondence disappeared.
The testimony of Fábrega has linked then president Martinelli directly to the c brokerage.
When a $12 million embezzlement was uncovered in 2012 Pellegrini, said in a statement that “there is a secret account of Ricardo Martinelli, called High Spirit, ‘which has been opened to manipulate the stock market’ with shares of Petaquilla.”
Roberto Brenes, CEO of the Panama Stock Exchange, warns of a much bigger things to be uncovered.
“I’ve been saying all along. Mayté Pellegrini and I have been, for different reasons, pointing to the topic of Shamah and Martinelli , but there is still plenty to talk about what was happening there before the alleged crime of Pellegrini was discovered and it has to do with the laundering and handling of bribes by Financial Pacific. It is a quite extensive and sophisticated theme … we have to further investigate the issue, “he said.
. Meanwhile Pellegrini has been denied police protection, in a case that already involves “disappearance” stabbing and threats”
The smoking gun is beginning to look more like a howitzer