Floodgates open as corruption suspects flee Panama

NAVIN BHAKTA, linked to the Financial Pacific and hydroelectric scandals and a partner of former President Ricardo Martinelli in several projects, has been added to the list of high profile  players who have fled the country.

Martinelli fled in January. Last Friday, Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Alejandro Garuz Adames, the former manager of Corporación de Energía del Istmo, left the country bound for the Dominican republic.

Corporación de Energía del Istmo Director José Luis Barredez left Panama Oct. 14 bound for his native Mexico.

Other players facing investigation have disappeared from public sight and are rumored to be in Israel.

Bhakta left Panama on  June 26  through the Paso Canoa border in Chiriquí, according to immigration records which  indicate he has not returned since.

His last previously  recorded departure was from Tocumen International Airport on May 21 when he flew to Cuba reports La Prensa.

The businessman is listed as partner in Corporación de Energía del Istmo Ltd., a company that received a number of hydroelectric concessions during the previous government. It also received payments from Cobranzas del Istmo, a company that has been linked to a corruption investigation in connection with contracts it received from the Martinelli administration.Its owner iss under house arrest.

Other shareholders in Corporación de Energía del Istmo are Martinelli and his sons, Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique.

Bhakta, who was appointed by Martinelli to the National Council of Foreign Affairs, has also been linked to the Financial Pacific scandal.

The departures came amidst the revelations of Martinelli’s connection to the company and the decision by prosecutors to investigate the matter, including the decision by the state-owned electricity transmission company Etesa to build a $13.7 million substation that directly benefitted the projects.