Panama fingered for laggard corruption probe
Transparency International (TI), has called for faster action in Lava Jato (Odebrecht bribery) investigations the largest anti-corruption probe in the history of Latin America, with a finger pointing firmly at Panama’s laggard judicial system.
In a statement published on its website on Wednesday, March 7 the organization warned that there is “excessive stagnation” in the advancement of investigations in certain countries
In relation to Panama, the organization says that the investigations are paralyzed by the inaction of the judicial power alleging technicalities. The most recent is that at the end of February, Brazilian court authorities sent information to Panama’s Public Ministry which would allow it to seize goods and money and impute charges to more people, as part of the research seeking to establish the alleged connection of the firm Mossack Fonseca of Panama Papers fame, with the Lava Jato operation.
Since last October, the investigations into the bribes paid by Odebrecht to officials are paralyzed, by order of a substitute judge, who did not accept a request from the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office to adjust the terms of the investigation. The prosecution appealed, but the appeal could not be resolved, waiting for The Supreme Court of Justice to attend to an Amparo presented against the appeal.
TI noted that in other countries, such as Mexico, “there is a full awareness that the case is a “confessed crime” but the nill results of the investigations, have led to questioning the independence of the Prosecutor to act.
“In Venezuela, where there is no Attorney General, there is no investigation, even though it is the country where Odebrecht had the most contracts; and in Argentina, there are few advances as a result of unjustified delays in judicial proceedings and the exacerbation of interference of political power, ” said the organization. TI calls on the national authorities of the Latin American countries to promote the investigations of this complex case, “overcoming formal obstacles and with a renewed drive to advance anti-corruption investigations and accentuate the levels of international cooperation. “