Following the money trail of Martinellis son

WHILE SPECULATION is rife over the likelihood of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli showing up for Friday Dec. 11,for his Supreme Court illegal surveillance  hearing, the spotlight is also on  his son, Ricardo Martinelli Linares.

The fourth anti-corruption prosecutor has asked the Superintendency of Banks for information about accounts belonging to, the son who has been connected to irregularities in the contract for the operation of the televised bingo game Buko Millonario.

A judicial source confirmed to La Prensa that the request was sent to the Superintendency as well as to the Gaming Control Board, which issued the license.

Prosecutor Ruth Morcillo is investigating possible money laundering of $12.5 million in proceeds from the operation of the bingo game. Also being investigated are  Omar Chen Chan, Jacqueline Chan de Watson and Egbert Agustín Wright, who are linked to the company Grupo de Inversión Mundial, which won the contract to operate the game.

Martinelli Linares is alleged to have influenced the awarding of the contract to the company, of which he owns a 55 percent stake through a company called San Cristóbal, Ltd. The contract had been awarded for a 20-year period, but was cancelled in 2014 due to financial irregularities.