Non absconding Mizrachi on the run

MAYER MIZRACHI Matalo, is now listed by Colombian authorities as a fugitive  after escaping from La Picota Jail in Bogota, Colombia, , says Panama’s Foreign Ministry.

After a Panama court revoked the order to extradite Mizrachi, he faced deportation to Panama for overstaying his visa in Colombia.

During an appearance before Panama’s Supreme Court while seeking to get the  extradition order revoked, Mizrachi’s lawyer told the court that there was no risk of his client absconding.

Before he could be deported, Mizrachi apparently bribed an official of the National Institute for Penitentiaries and Prisons (Inpec). The Panamanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Colombian authorities have opened an investigation into the incident and have charged one person.

On Wednesday, Mizrachi was flaunting his escape on Twitter, while Colombian authorities were issuing alert notices to neighboring countries.

Mizrachi who is facing trial in Panama on embezzlement  charges, is now considered a fugitive, Panama’s foreign the ministry said on Wednesday night soon after they received notice of his extradition order being revoked.

His father is also on the run. He fled Panama in August last year aboard Martinelli’s private jet, while being investigated for his involvement in offshore accounts used to funnel money to Israel for the purchase of spying equipment alleged to have been used by Martinelli for illegal surveillance of 150 rival politicians, journalists, judges and businessmen.

On his Twitter account, Mizrachi said that “there was no legal order in Colombia for my deportation” and denied bribing any officials. He said that the decision to halt the extradition process “did not include a transfer to another entity.”

“I am grateful to the staff of La Picota for having acted fully for not giving me to another entity without legal order,” he wrote.