Ex-PAN boss ready to talk in plea bargain

THE FORMER director of the National Assistance Program (PAN), Rafael Guardia Jaén, facing numerous corruption charges is ready to talk in exchange for a reduced sentence
He has been detained at El Renacer Prison since November 2014 and is seeking a plea agreement.
His defense lawyer Victor Orobio has submitted a letter of intent to Attorney General Kenia Porcell in which he would accept a reduced sentence in exchange for information.
Guardia Jaén was recently released from prison based on decisions by the Fifth and Fifteenth dcriminal courts, but he has been prohibited from leaving the country. The decisions, which are being appealed by prosecutors, are due to his poor health.
The PAN program has been the subject of a number of allegations related to corruption during the administration of former President Ricardo Martinelli, who appointed Guardia Jaén

Martinelli messenger
Guardia Jaen and another former director Giacomo Tamburelli have accused Martinelli of issuing instructions for purchases now under investigations, through his private secretary Adolfo “Chichi” De Obarrio, who had a notoriously grand and expensive wedding costing scores of thousands of dollars although he was receiving only $5,000 a month salary before tax. An Internet Red Alert is in place for Obarrio who fled the country on Christmas Day, 2014.
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