Man who ferried cash to Martinelli not off the hook

AS OUTRAGE mounts over a controversial decision by a Panama  criminal judge, already  the subject of a judicial investigation, the beneficiary of his recent decision is not yet off the hook.

Some $8.8 million linked to Cristóbal Salerno – the head of the company Cobranzas del Istmo – remains seized by the Accounts Prosecutor.

Salerno famously confessed to delivering millions of dollars to ex-president Ricardo Martinelli.

Prosecutor Guido Rodríguez confirmed that the recent ruling of the First Criminal Court to release some $35 million seized from companies related to Salerno and several of his relatives does not affect the corruption investigation opened by his office.

The Accounts Prosecutor’s Office opened the process based on complaints filed by revenue authorities due to alleged irregularities in the contract signed between that department and Cobranzas del Istmo during the last government to collect delinquent taxes.

The decision by First Criminal Court Judge Rolando Quesada Vallespi has been called a “moral blow to the country” by some sectors of civil society.

Rodríguez said that he opened his inquiry after allegations were made in January 2015 before the public prosecutor by Revenue Director Publius Cortez and Minister of Economy and Finance Dulcidio De La Guardia.

The $8.8 million was seized as part of the process for possible financial injury to the state.

The investigations are focused on the alleged duplicity of commissions as well as the alleged improper collection of taxes.

Under oath,Salerno  told Prosecutor Ruth Morcillo, that then president Ricardo Martinelli received millions in benefits from Cobranzas del Istmo, S.A., and that he personally delivered suitcases of cash containing  between $400,000 and $600,000 each time.