Judge quashes scandal brokerage probe

AN INVESTIGATION  into alleged use of insider information by the scandal-ridden Financial Pacific (FP) brokerage with links to alleged stock manipulation has been dismissed.

Baloisa Marquínez, acting as deputy special judge said  “that there is no expert report of a forensic audit that evidences the damage caused, to establish who could be possibly affected and the amount of the injury caused  … Also, there are  no imputed people duly  linked to the fact investigated.”

Marquínez acts as special judge attached to the Seventeenth Criminal Court.  the ruling is dated June 14  But has only now been released.

The Public Ministry had requested that the case be declared complex, but the request was denied by the Court.

The complaint was filed in September 2015 by the Superintendency of  Values (SMV), to investigate how former President Ricardo Martinelli, his children and relatives allegedly manipulated the stock market to obtain benefits with the purchase of Petaquilla Gold shares, through Financial Pacific.

According to the complaint of the SMV, several investment accounts like “High Spirit” managed by FP were used to sell and buy Petaquilla Gold shares, using privileged information, while Martinelli was in office  (2009-2014)  and laws were promoted that favored the mining industry.

Mayte Pellegrini, a former employee of FP, said that in the brokerage opened a secret account called High Spirit linked to the then President Martinelli. to manipulate the stock market with the actions of Petaquilla.