First Martinelli Minister on trial Friday

FORMER  Minister of Social Development (Mides), Guillermo Ferrufino will be the first Cabinet member of the Martinelli  administration to face trial when on Friday March 11 he will appear in court with his wife Milena Vallarino, charged with  the alleged crimes of unjust enrichment.

They can expect a packe  courtroom as  the Eleventh Criminal Court  hearing before  judge Eduardo De La Torre Lopez, will be open to the public on a first come, first serve basis, but there will be few seats available as a large media turnout is guaranteed. There will be no standing room.

No camera’s, electronic recording devices, pads or cell phones will be allowed, and there will be security checks at the door. Journalists will have to rely on notebooks.

The Ministry of Communication said “no dialogue, mumbling, shouting or banging will be allowed during the course of the hearing”,

The sessions will be consecutive, within the day fixed, and may be extended past 5:00 pm, says a Ministry bulletin.

Also called to trial by  the First Anti-corruption prosecutor, Tania Sterling, are: Roberto Augusto Herrera Delgado, Miguel Angel Herrera Marcos, Gaston Regis Rammos Enrique Herrera and Martha Elyna Marcos.

Miguel Angel Herrera and Gaston Regis are the spouses of Sonima and Yvonne Benitez Ferrufino, respectively, the former minister sisters. Martha Herrera Marcos is the mother of Miguel Angel Herrera, brother of Ferrufino and Delgado’s brother Roberto Herrera Michelangelo.

Ferrufino, currently in detention, was in charge of the of Mides portfolio during the five years of the Martinelli administration.

The investigation began on November 20, 2014, when the Office of the Comptroller General received a complaint alleging the existence of goods which exceeded those listed by Ferrufino in his economic statements made at the beginning and end of his tenure.

Photos of a newly acquired mansion and other possessions were widely seen on social networks.