Former governor bailed but still detained
FORMER COCLE governor and head of Petaquilla Mines, Richard Fifer, has been granted bail for $100,000, but still remains in detention as he faces other charges.
The Second Superior Court overturned a decision by the Sixteenth Criminal Court and granted bail in a case relating s to an investigation for alleged fraud against Gold Dragon Capital Management.
In the judgment of May 26, Judge Adolfo Mejia and deputy magistrate Diego Fernandez Paniagua said that there was np evidence that Fifer, who was arrested in Colombia, would seek ‘’ to be out of reach of the authorities”
The criminal case, led by prosecutor Kira Lizbeth Brokamp, arose from a complaint filed by representatives of Gold Dragon Capital Management, who said that the company entered into a contract with Fifer to invest $100,000 tin mineral exploration in exchange for 2% of the shares of Petaquilla but claim that the agreement was not fulfilled.
Despite the bail granted in this case, Fifer will continue in preventive detention, as he is also being investigated, along with another man, for allegedly evading payment of Social Security Fund dues.
