62 Odebrecht bribery suspects named

THE NUMBER of  Panama’s  former insiders who inhabited the Martinelli era administration and had the password to reach the treasure trove of bribes from the Odebrecht Construction company has swelled beyond the 40 thieves of  Arabian Nights fame as the biggest corruption scandal in the country;s history unfolds.

The Special Prosecutor for Anti-Corruption  Zuleika Moore, has charged some 62 people with receiving bribes from Odebrecht. They include ex-Ministers, officials and those euphemistically described as “entrepreneurs” many with close business ties to former president Ricardo Martinelli.

This was revealed  to La Prensa by the Public Ministry (MP)  in response to a questionnaire

Prosecutors reported that 36 of the 62 defendants have been investigated with eight  of them in pre-trial detention  in El Renacer prison, and one under house arrest

As part of the investigations, the prosecution has received  52 assists and received six requests for cooperation in  Odebrecht bribery processes in other countries.

Since December 2016, when the Public Ministry reopened the Odebrecht case and the company confessed to paying about $59 million in bribes in Panama, 36 people have been questioned as part of 22 related investigations, opened by the Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor’s Office.

In January 2017 the MP reported the first 17 defendants, particularly for the bribes paid to Panamanians through Swiss banks.

In  August, the MP reported 43 investigated in all related processes and  Attorney General Kenia Porcell, announced an agreement with Odebrecht giving her access to statements by executives of the company to prosecutors in Brazil. Porcell reported that as part of the agreement a fine of $220 million  was imposed on the construction company.

Denials
The majority of the inquiries are of former government officials, bank employees and entrepreneurs. All have denied to the media that they received bribes from Odebrecht.

Among those who have been interrogated and have given statements  are: former Public Works (MOP)  Ministerd Federico Suárez and Jaime Ford; the former director of the Social Security Fund (CSS) Guillermo Sáez-Llorens; former head of the Financial Analysis  unit Amado Barahona; former Minister of the Presidency Demetrio Papadimitriu ; former Head of MOP Special Projects Carlos Ho González  and his wife and stepdaughter ; along with Mario Martinelli, brother of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli;  businessman Riccardo Francolini,linked to the ex-president and facing other investigations, ;Democratic Change 2014  presidential candidate José Domingo Mimito Arias; local bank employee Humberto De Leon; orge Espino and Julián París, of the company Concept and Spaces; and the sister of former minister Suárez, Ana Isabel Suárez.