Panama comptroller starts bribery audits

AN AUDIT  of former Public Works Ministry official Carlos Ho,  will likely be followed  by investigations of other officials including some in the current administration who have been identified by Odebrecht officials as related to acts of bribery by the company Odebrecht says Panama’s Comptroller.

Ho  has already been named as one of the people they bribed in exchange for contracts.

Ho held the position of director of Special Projects of the ministry and was in the institution for eight years under ex presidents Martin Torrijos and Ricardo Martinelli..

In a statement, Comptroller Federico Humbert stressed that “all persons who have held public positions, including active officials, that are linked to bribery will be investigated.”

After completing the Ho audit, the comptroller will send an authenticated copy to the Attorney General’s Office for possible criminal prosecution.

Ho was identified by banker Vinicius Veiga Borin, who signed an agreement with Brazil  judicial authorities.

Veiga Borin worked for Antigua Overseas Bank and Meinl Bank in Antigua. That bank handled accounts for

Odebrecht that were used to pay bribes.

Ho told La Prensa in June that he does not know Veiga Borin, who identified him as a beneficiary of an

account in the name of the offshore company Pivotal Corp., one of the companies connected to Odebrecht.