Martinelli off extortion hook-for now

An investigation into alleged extortion by former President Ricardo Martinelli, against the Italian company Impregilo, has been shelved by Panama Supreme Court  Judge Luis Ramón Fábrega.

The alleged extortion for which one person has already been sentenced in Italy, related to the failed construction of a pediatric hospital in Veraguas in 2010.

In his  February 15.  ruling, Fábrega. warned that “the present case may be reopened in the event that the response for  judicial assistance sent to Italy reveals  elements that allow the investigation to continue.”

The investigation began after the Embassy of Panama in Italy sent to Panamanian authorities in June 2015 copies of the sentence applied to Valter Lavítola in  Naples, for extorting Impregilo.

Lavítola, who was the intermediary between Italian companies and Panama officials, committed the crime of attempted extortion by threatening, through a third person,  Imregilo, which was to finance the project.

The threat, according to the document of the Italian authorities, was that if  Impregilo did not finance the construction of the hospital, Ricardo Martinelli would issue a public announcement discrediting the quality of the work carried out by the Italian company in the expansion of the Panama Canal. The purpose of the announcement was to affect the value of  Impregilio’s  shares in the stock market.

According to the Italian judges, the initiative to threaten Impregilo came from  Martinelli, who transmitted that message to Lavítola, who in turn “played the role of  “courier.”

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