The corruption network that prosecutor Ay Prado missed

THE FILING of a prosecution  against ex-president Ricardo Martinelli  and two deputies by his appointee, Supreme Court (CSJ)  president   Ayú Prado because the prosecution  has not been able to assemble enough evidence to secure a conviction  in a  corruption case involving $46 million, appears to be a lack of diligence  by the court according to a La Prensa report

The law says the prosecutor [Ayú Prado]  “will arrange the file if he considers that the act does not constitute a crime, dismissing the complaint or actions. … the  decision will be reviewed by the judge of guarantees -in this case,  Jerónimo Mejía- if the victim requests it.”  So far   It is not known if there will be a review

Sources of the Public Ministry (MP) explained that the Court would have to ask the Comptroller General for more information about the accounts and money managed by the former National Assistance Program (PAN)  for the purchase of grain and determine if there is a possibility of reopening the investigation. However, documents provided by the Judicial Body indicate that since 2016, there was little diligence in the process.

The case was admitted by the plenary of the CSJ on  September 17,  2015 The MP forwarded copies of the investigation to the CSJ, after the statement made in January 2015 by former PAN director Rafael Guardia Jaén, who said he awarded the contracts for the purchase of grains on  the instructions of Adolfo Chichi De Obarrio, secretary of then president Ricardo Martinelli, and now a fugitive.

Guardia Jaén revealed that when they passed the phone, Martinelli told him: “Do everything I told Chichi, to tell you.”

The source added that they also sent copies of the process to the CSJ when the names of Deputies Gálvez and García since it is the role of the CSJ to investigate the deputies.

La Prensa  called the Minister of the Presidency, Álvaro Alemán, to know if the DAS, under the jurisdiction of his office would request as a victim of the case, a review of Ayú Prado’s ruling, but he did not answer

On September 17, 2016, the case was admitted by the plenary session and Ayú Prado was designated as prosecutor.  On that date, the Judiciary said  that one of the aspects taken into account by the  CSJ to initiate the investigation of Martinelli was the fact that Rafael Guardia Jaén stated that contracts for the sale of grain to companies were  managed by  then [Martinelli owned]Super 99 purchasing director, Roberto Brin, because the rice was provided by Mario Martinelli, brother of the former president.

Another of the statements used as a basis to initiate the investigation was the statement made by Pablo Ruiz Obregón, representative of the company Hialing Corporation, who narrated that Mario Martinelli was the capital partner of that company, who had also sold rice, vegetables and school bags to PAN.

In addition, the full CSJ referred to a financial report, which said that checks for considerable amount were written by  Hialing Corporation, in favor of Mario Martinelli, Roberto Brin and José Domingo Mimito Arias, who would later be Presidential candidate for Democratic Change in the 2014 campaign.

In the case of Deputy García, the businesswoman Mara del Carmen Vergara, from Suplidora Edimar, S.A., declared that it gave a percentage of the money charged to the deputies and Guardia Jaén affirmed that Gálvez requested the direct purchase of sacks of rice for his circuit through t contracts with Constructora Botsa.