Vice-presidents brother in Odebrecht probe

THE BROTHER of Panama’s Vice-President Isabella de Saint Malo, is the latest high profile Panamanian to be named in the Odebrecht bribery scandals.

The Special  Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, investigating the Odebrecht case, has  summoned Raul de Saint Malo García,  to explain his connection with the $ 1.9 million management check as part of the payment for  helicopter N1626L, sized  from Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, son of ex- president Ricardo Martinelli

Raul de Saint Malo, a former government contractor, is linked to Petro Trading Services Corp., which, according to the Attorney General’s Office, authorized the payment of the check issued on June 25, 2014.

The partnership was dissolved on July 13, 2016, according to the Official Gazette of the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The company was liquidated by Larissa Llamas, who appears in several companies along with De Saint Malo, as Petro Trading Corp., which was set up in Panama two days after Petro Trading Services Corp. was founded in BVI.

President  Juan Carlos Varela says that Raul de Saint Malo,”will explain the situation”

“Being the brother of our vice president I have full confidence that he will explain the situation,” said Varela when consulted by journalists during a public event, reports La Estrella.

Chancellor De Saint Malo said: “naturally about these activities it is up to Raúl to make any kind of explanation that is necessary.”

“My brother is an entrepreneur and a good person, successful in his private activities for more than twenty years,” said the chancellor, who added that as a public figure has maintained a total separation of all private activity.

“I am confident that Raúl will be able to give the respective explanations and will collaborate in everything that is required of the authorities, and as I understand it, is already doing it voluntarily,” she said

Since the news broke on May 9, Raul Saint Malo has disappeared from sight. Efforts by multiple local media outlets to reach him have been unsuccessful

The payment of $ 1.9 million for the purchase of the helicopter was made with a company allegedly linked to Raul de Saint Malo, through a check from the Global Bank, dated June 25, 2014.

Bank probe stalled

Meanwhile Supreme Court judge Angela Russo, admitted an amparo of guarantees in favor of the Martinelli brothers, which temporarily paralyzed a series of bank investigations by  the Public Ministry. The appeal must be defined by the full Court.