Three strikes for ex Canadian mine boss

THE FORMER head of Canadian gold mining company Petaquilla  whose checkered history has reported links to Ricardo Martinelli’s activities, had three strike outs on Saturday, February 27.

Richard Fifer was  arrested in Colombia on  Thursday after an international arrest warrant was  issued  by Panamanian judicial authorities.

In three court appearances in Cocle, the province he once governed, Fifer received three preventive detention orders.

The first case was related  to  allegedly withholding over $3 million   Social Security  dues  paid by  workers at  the mine,

In the second hearing he was charged with withholding  over $3 million in quotas due to the Panama Infrastructure Development Company (PDI

In  the third hearing he was charged with  withholding workers’ dues of over $20,000 in a business listed as Mar del Sur.

A statement from the court said Fifer’s   lawyer Marilin Melgar appealed preventive detention in the first two cases. The  appeals will be resolved in hearings to be held on March 2 and 3  in the Cocle  Court of Appeals.

In addition, Fifer faces criminal prosecution with his Canadian partner  Keneth Morgan, for fraud to the detriment of  Canadian Company Gold Dragon.