Martinelli royal relative named in FBI probe

AARON MIZRACHI, brother-in-law  of former President Ricardo Martinelli and linked by prosecutors to multiple cases of alleged corruption in the previous  government, was called “royalty” in the circle where allegedly a plot was executed to distribute commissions for a contract between Panama and the Social Security Fund for the purchase of SAP software.

This was revealed last week by the businessman  Heraclio Bustamante, in a preliminary statement to the Sixth Anticorruption Prosecutor.

“The other person of  which I am aware was  Carlos Bissot  who referred to The ‘Royalty.’ When I asked who was  royalty , He told me Aaron Ronny Mizrachi, ” said Bustamente.

The prosecutor Aurelio Vasquez has imposed an injunction on Bustamente preventing  him  from leaving the country and ordering hi,  to report to the prosecution  every Friday.Before mentioning Mizrachi he  had given  the prosecutor details of the role played in the plot  by his company True Marketing .

According to the trader, commissions to Advanced Consulting were transferred through True Marketing by the  ex-administrador of the National Authority for Government Innovation Eduardo Jaen, who received 1% of the commission. The other 1% was for Carlos Bissot, the other partner of Advanced Consulting.

Mizrachi  who is named  in several other cases of alleged corruption, is outside the country.

He fled Panama  in August 2015 aboard Martinelli’s private jet.

Meanwhile, the alleged involvement of Mizrachi in this case was revealed  in a  statement by FBI agent Andrew Robinson, , who participated in the investigation in the US and to whom Vicente Garcia, former vice president of SAP, (now in a US  jail) admitted  he had  created a scheme to pay kickbacks and so get contracts in Panama.

Robinson, according to the Thirteenth Criminal Court which denied an appeal by Mizrachi, said that he met with Garcia in a hotel in Panama and the then vice president of SAP said Mizrachi was the brother-in-law  of President Ricardo Martinelli and could get the multinational millionaire contracts with the state.

The FBI agent said  tha tAdvanced Consulting, the SAP distributor in Panama would pay, Mizrachi 10% of the contract and Jaen 1%, which would be funneled  by Bissot through True Marketing.