Appeals in airport scam denied

Two appeals filed by businessman Gabriel Btesh, under investigation for alleged embezzlement crimes from Tocumen International Airport have been denied.

The Anticorruption Discharge Office initiated the case after an audit by the Comptroller General revealed that of the Republic, which determined that the air terminal did not receive $1.9 million from the direct contract granted to Sky Parking, SA, linked to Btesh, for the administration of the parking lots of the international airport.

The first of the rejected appeals sought to invalidate the investigation decision in which the prosecution charged him

The other appeal rejected was a requested to annul the order of preventive detention, as well as the request of office that the prosecution t to Interpol, in order to issue an  international red alert against Btesh.

The prosecutor’s office has requested in its fiscal hearing an appeal to trial for Btesh, the former Minister of Economy and Finance Frank De Lima ; the former manager of Tocumen’s board of directors Juan Carlos Pino ; and José Quintero and Dionisia Gutiérrez, representatives of the company Sky Parking SA, which managed the parking lots between October 2011 and July 2014.