First two held in laundering probe

The Seventh Anti-Corruption Prosecutor ordered the detention of Salomon Jack Btesh and Valentín Martínez Vásquez in a money-laundering probe of transfers from the investment account of Jal Offshore Ltd. in Financial Pacific  FP).

The arrests came after they surrendered to the prosecution on  Wednesday. Both were taken to the cells of the Judicial Investigation Directorate (DIJ) in Ancón.  Others are expected to join them as the probe develops,

The prosecutor’s office also investigated lawyers Ramsés Owen and Joel Antonio Watson, allegedly linked to Jal Offshore Ltd.,

The prosecutor has also ordered the investigation of a raft of former president  Ricardo Martinelli inner circle members including FP directors: West Valdés and Iván Clare, Ori Sasson Zbeda Levy, Mariel Rodríguez Espino, Carlo Javier Osorio Wald and Josué Absalón Chávéz.

In addition, investigations are in hand for former Vice President Felipe Pipo Virzi Riccardo Francolini, former president of the State Savings Bank’s board of directors; Aaron Mizrachi, brother-in-law of Martinelli ; and to Cristóbal Salerno, from Cobranzas del Istmo, S.A. (CISA) -which  in the past government had the exclusive contract  of the collection of delinquent State taxes- and his daughter María Alejandra Salerno Gómez.

The prosecutor’s office is also investigating Margiel Angel Cohen and Ramón Carretero Napolitano.

In a decision of October 9, 2017, fourteenth criminal judge, Vilma Urieta, agreed to a request from the prosecutor’s office and declared the facts investigated as a case of organized crime and, and granted a one-year term, without prejudice that it could be extended for another year- to complete the investigation of the case.

On May 2, 2017, just when the term granted by the court to complete the investigation of the process expired, the prosecution referred the request to declare the complex case and be granted new deadlines in the process.

In the ruling, the judge specified the transfers received by Jal Offshore Ltd., as well as the payments to third parties made by the company, which were identified in the financial investigation conducted by the SMV, which is the auditor of the Financial Pacific brokerage firm, with  information that the account received “large  sums of money” from Felipe Pipo Virzi, as well as Caribbean Holding Services Ltd .; Langton International Holding, linked to Aaron Mizrachi.

Other investigations of the  FP brokerage in addition to the one related to Jal Offshore Ltd. are underway, with many of the same targets.

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