Ex-tourism boss loses embezzlement case appeal

An order to be taken to appear in court against the former head of the  Panama Tourism Authority, Salomón Shamah, has been declared legal by the Supreme Court after the former official challenged the decision of the Twelfth Criminal Circuit Court to deny him a habeas corpus.

With the appeal, the former minister, and dirty tricks operator for ex-president Ricardo Martinelli sought to annul an order issued in 2016 by the Third Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, who after completing his investigation, made charges and requested a trial appeal for Shamah and three other persons linked to alleged embezzlement of $135,000 in contracts to build a tourist berth in Río de Jesús, Veraguas, with a company that presumably did not have the experience for the type of construction. On May 12, 2017, the prosecutor’s office issued the driving order for Shamah to appear for an investigation, but he never showed up. The investigation was made after an audit report from the Office of the Comptroller, revealed the alleged embezzlement.

Shamah, a Colombian, who lived in a condominium complex on Calle 42 in Bella Vista is no longer in Panama and has reportedly been seen in a Bogota nightspot.

While in office his US visa was revoked