Odebrecht Court decisions in task force spotlight

THE DECISIONS of Panama’s Supreme Court  in the Odebrecht bribery scandal  could affect  how the country is viewed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which evaluates Panama in all its context, warns National Bank of Panama advisor Rolando de León,

He said that the Court ‘ s decisions in the Odebrecht case will have an impact on the country.

“If we let a case like Odebrecht fail due to legal issues, it will have an impact. We will not be able to show the FATF that we have all the elements coordinated to attack This kind of situation … ” he told La Prensa.

The Court denied the Public Prosecutor’s Office an extension  of time  in  the Odebrecht investigation , which involves  characters like Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares -sons of the former president Ricardo Martinelli-, indicted  for supposedly having received bribes from the Brazilian construction company through Swiss banks which have frozen their accounts , containing $22 million. Prosecutors have seized a luxury apartment in the heart of Madrid, and a helicopter belonging to the Martinelli sons. They have fled the country. Their father is in a Miami detention center where he has been since his arrest in June while fighting extradition to face trial in Panama.