Ex-Ombudsman facing embezzlement trial

The Anticorruption prosecutor Javier Miter Burgos has requested a call to trial Panama’s former Ombudsman Patria  Portugal for alleged embezzlement in the execution of two advertising contracts while holding the post.

During the preliminary hearing of the trial,in the Eighth Criminal Court, the prosecutor argued that the investigation was credited the connection of Portugal with the alleged commission of the crime of embezzlement for a contract that she signed as head of the entity with the company Imaginarium Studio, SA, for an amount of $249, 845 and a second for training for $199, 983, given to the company En Avant, SA

According to Miter, the requirements that had to be met to redesign the website that applies to government entities were not fulfilled in this contract. In addition, officials of the entity declared that they could carry out the work, for which reason the hiring was unnecessary.

 Portugal was separated from her  position by the Supreme Court on August 5, 2013

Two complaints were lodged against Portugal, one promoted by Abigail Benzadón, then head of the National Authority of Transparency and Access to Information, and another by lawyer José Antonio Moncada.

The eighth criminal judge Leira Terán decided to accumulate both complaints, considering that they dealt with the same facts and therefore could be processed in a single file.