Panama link to El Salvador corruption trial
A PANAMA registered corporation transferred at least $874,000 to the president of El Salvador, Francisco Flores (1999-2004), currently in custody while awaiting trial for allegedly embezzling $15 million donation from the Taiwanese government.
According to research by El Faro f El Salvador, Flores received the money from the International Trade and Competiveness Consultants (ICTE), SA, registered in Panama on December 22, 2005, for alleged “consulting” services.
The funds were transferred from Multibank Panama and entered in a bank account in Davivienda, which had been opened by Flores. Deposits of $2.4 million were found between November 2009 and November 2013 they were found, but according to El Faro – the auditors could only analyze $ 1.8 million because the bank refused to provide more information on the origin of the remaining funds.
The newspaper article reports that on May 13, 2014, exactly 13 days after prosecutors accused Flores, the board of the Panamanian company resigned, leaving the company “drifting”. Until then, as directors and officers of ICTE they included three people who had the same address on the 2nf floor of the Tower Bank, in Marbella. That is also the address of the law firm German, Cordero, Galindo & Lee.
It is also reported that the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) of the Attorney General of El Salvador, have asked their Panamanian counterparts to track the accounts and companies of the ex-president “Panama’s response is that the Flores had no business or bank accounts in that country. If the FIU had specified the name of the company and the bank through which International Consultants transfers made, the name of the president would have surfaced. “
