Court upholds money laundering probe

ANOTHER  blocking tactic by a high profile suspect facing criminal charges has been thrown out, this time involving Cristóbal Salerno, who has testified he took suitcases stuffed with cash to Ricardo Martinelli when he was president and is facing money laundering and embezzlement charges.

The Second Criminal Court rejected an nullity incident filed against the investigation carried out by the Seventh Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office over  alleged money laundering related to the collection of delinquent taxes through the company Cobranzas del Istmo (CISA).

In a ruling dated December 9 , Second Criminal, Judge, Johann Barrios, dismissed the arguments presented by Gustavo Sierra Castellanos, defender of Salerno,  alleging  that the process for his client was  based on the same facts as the summary proceedings carried by the First Criminal Court for alleged embezzlement.

Judge Barrios, however, concluded that the crime of money laundering imputed Salerno is autonomous, regulated independently by the Criminal Code.