Ex-security Minister denies knowledge of $25 million bribe

FORMER Public Security   Minister, José Raúl Mulino, has denied having any knowledge of a $25 million commission to the Panamanian company Agafia that was part of a $250 million security contract he signed with Italian defense consortium Finmeccanica.

 The payment has been described as a bribe by Italian officials investigating the contract.
In an interview on TVN Wednesday August 2, Mulino defended the contract, saying it was in accordance with his vision for improving the country’s security. The contract called for the purchase of helicopters and radars to monitor the coasts.
Asked about the payment to Agafía, he refused to answer on the grounds that he was not aware of the payment.”Don’t ask me what I don’t know,” he said.
According to Italian prosecutors, Agafia received 10 percent, or $25 million, of the contracts, signed with three subsidiaries of Finmeccanica: Selex, Agusta and Telespazio Argentina. The payment was described as a “consultancy agreement.”
The beneficiaries of the payments to Agaia were former President Ricardo Martinelli and his associates, according to evidence collected by investigators in Rome and Naples.
He also said that, if a bribe was made, then current President Juan Carlos Varela should also be held accountable, as he was the chancellor at the time.
This contradicted statements he made in 2011, when he said the chancellor should not be allowed to “meddle” in security matters and that his opposition to the contract was “a legal outrage,”says La Prensa.