A corruption breeding ground

RICCARDO FRANCOLINI the latest player to come  into focus  in the Martinelli era corruption scandals  had close  business links with the ex-president going back to 2006.

That was the year the company Promotora y Desarrollo Los Andes was  formed in 2006  with Ricardo Martinelli as its president.

Many of its participants would later assume positions of power when Martinelli became president of the country, and some are now  facing corruption charges

Originally, the company Promotora y Desarrollo Los Andes had Guillermo Sáez-Llorens as secretary, Federico Suárez as assistant secretary and Mario Martinelli, the brother w of the future president, as its treasurer. In August 2008, Suárez would become vice president and Saez-Llorens was replaced by Riccardo Francolini, who was general manager of Grupo Suárez, the family company of Federico Suárez.

Once Martinelli was elected president, Sáez-Llorens, Francolini and Suarez passed to occupy strategic positions in the public service. Sáez-Llorens was named head of Social Security, Francolini was appointed chairman of Caja de Ahorros and vice president of Tocumen, S.A., and Suárez was appointed minister of Public Works.

On June 1, 2009, a month before assuming the post of minister, Suárez resigned from the company, but was replaced by his sister, Ana Isabel Suárez.

Martinelli also resigned and was replaced by his son, Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares. In 2011, Evelyn Vargas, who appears as the registered agent of a number of companies controlled by Martinelli, was named as president.

Other new board members included Juan Antonio Fernández as treasurer and Nitzella Bonilla Pérez as vice president. Francolini remained as secretary. Francolini is now accused of receiving a $500,000 bribe in the Tonosi failed irrigation project. Sáez-Llorens, is under investigation for “irregularities” in a hospital project while he was head of the country’s social security system. He was criticized for pushing for the unfinished hospital to be named after Martinelli while he was still in office.