Ex-Finance Minister grilled over alleged $7 million bribes

Panama’s former Finance Minister was interrogated for five hours, on  Friday,   July 13  by special Anti-corruption prosecutor  Zuleyka Moore over his alleged links to the Odebrecht corruption scandal in Panama.

The questioning started at 9:00 a.m. and ended about 2:00  p.m.

The last time De Lima was investigated by the prosecution, in this case, was in December 2017 when he was ordered to be provisionally detained, but a ruling by the Supreme Court (CSJ) replaced the detention with the precautionary measure of country arrest.

In a public hearing, on November 9, 2017, in the Twelfth Criminal Court, André Rabello – Odebrecht’s superintendent in Panama – confessed that De Lima received at least $7 million in “undue payments” from the Brazilian constructor’s bribery department. The declaration is part of an agreement effective collaboration between the prosecutor’s office and Rabello.

Luiz Eduardo Da Rocha Soares, another Odebrecht executive, also identified De Lima as one of the beneficiaries of improper payments made by the firm.

In addition, two  Panamanians -Olmedo Méndez Tribaldos and José Luis Saiz Villanueva- declared that they received money from Odebrecht on instructions from the former minister.

De Lima has categorically denied links to  Odebrecht bribes,