US-Panama daily contact in laundering investigation

THE US  GOVERNMENT is in  “daily contact” with Panama  authorities investigating businessman Abdul Waked, his nephew Nidal  Waked, and 68 of their companies that have been placed on the Clinton list due to activities related to money laundering and drug trafficking.

“We maintain daily contact with the Panamanian authorities who are investigating the case,” said US Ambassador John Feeley on Monday May 30.

“We are working with the brave prosecutor [Kenia Porcell]. People have to understand that these things take time and we must maintain the integrity of the process” reports La Prensa.

Feeley said  that, in the United States, the process involving Abdul Waked is administrative while that involving Nidal Waked is judicial.

“In the case of Nidal, charges have been formulated. In the case of Abdul Waked, we are taking administrative action. This means that we have the right to protect our financial system from money that we consider to be dirty,” he said.

Nidal was detained May 4 in Bogota, Colombia, and is waiting to be extradited to Florida where the prosecutor is  calling for a 50 year jail term for the 44 year old suspect.

He said the differences in the two cases is the burden of proof that is required.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency opened an investigation into the Wakeds 10 years ago. At about that time, the family also came under investigation by Colombian authorities.