OFF THE CUFF: Another Martinelli ploy to evade justice.

THE  LAWYERS of ex president  Ricardo Martinelli seem determined  to earn their lucrative fees, not by defending him in  court, but by making sure he never appears to face multiple corruption charges.

Their latest blocking move came on Tuesday March 2 when they asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a case against him for irregularities in purchases made by the National Assistance Program (PAN).

Lawyer Sidney Sitton argued that Prosecutor Oydén Ortega sought  information from banks without the prior permission of Judge Jerome Mejía.

Sitton said that Ortega violated article 199 of the criminal procedure code in requesting the information.

Martinelli was not at the hearing. He fled Panama in January 2015. And directly, or through his lawyers has been thumbing is nose at prosecutors ever since..

In this case he  is being investigated for offenses against public administration in connection with a $44.5 million contract in favor of Lerkshore International Limited, a supplier of dehydrated food, that was handed out by education officials in the last government.

A trial is set for May for other defendants in the case, including Martinelli’s private secretary Adolfo “Chichi” De Obarrio, now a fugitive  and Rubén De Ycaza, the representative of Lerkshore.

If American and Canadian authorities open investigations into the alleged rigging of Petaquilla shares on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges, via a Financial Pacific (FP) account. Martinelli may have a harder time avoiding his day in court.