$212,000 no bid contract never completed

Former officials with the Government Innovation Agency have told prosecutors that Eduardo Jaén, the former director of the agency, directed them to grant a $211,850.no-bid contract to Innovative Venture, the company linked to Mayer Mizrachi, who was arrested in Cartagena earlier this week and is facing embezzlement charges

Former employees Edgar Rodríguez Salazar and Eduardo Briceño both said that Jaén was the person responsible for the contract, which was for encryption technology that was never provided. Briceño, who is also charged in the case, said that he received instructions from Jaén, via e-mail, to meet with company officials about the contract. reports La Prensa

Jaén’s lawyer    Ángel Álvarez, , said that the contracted software was provided and that all that is needed is for it to be installed, a process that is being blocked by the current administration reports La Prensa.

Mizrachi, the son of the brother-in-law of former President Ricardo Martinelli, was arrested in Colombia following  a red alert from Interpol at the request of Panamanian authorities.

A 12-page ruling signed by Judge Alina Hubiedo and Judicial Secretary Carlos Castro,  found that the contract was not properly executed.

The ruling says that Mizrachi “has remained abroad, so it is necessary to initiate proceedings for his extradition.”

The first anti-corruption prosecutor ordered the detention of Mizrachi on Sept. 24 on charges of embezzlement. The investigation began when the Government Innovation Authority filed a complaint over the contract in January 2015. The contract had been granted shortly before the 2014 election.

The document also notes that the agencies that were supposed to benefit from the technology, namely the police and the Ministry of the Presidency, did not receive the technology as stipulated by the contract.

Jaén has testified that the technology was available when he left office, and the current administration was to implement it.

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