$686,00 Odebrecht bribes suspect wriggles off the hook

The Twelfth Criminal Court has annulled an order of inquiry and the correction to the document issued by the Special Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office against Fotis Lymberópulos -who has fled Panamal- in the investigation of bribes paid by Odebrecht reports La Prensa.

In a  May 3, ruling  Judge Óscar Carrasquilla admitted an incident of controversy filed by the defense of Lymberópulos – which rendered void the order of investigation for the alleged commission of crimes against the economic order.

After receiving a new line of information from international judicial assistance, the Special Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office issued an order of inquiry for businessmen Fotis Lymberópulos and Rodrigo ‘Rod’ Díaz. both linked to companies that, got bribes from Odebrecht from the Madden-Colón highway project and the coastal strip.

Error corrected
On November 21, 2018, the prosecutor’s office ordered the investigation of  Lymberópulos, but made an error at the time of placing the legal basis, since it used as a rule, a law that at the time was not current.

It turns out that the law, of May 2017, by which the Criminal Code was adopted, would come into force one year after its promulgation, one year later than the events attributed to Lymberópulos.

Based on Article 999 of the Judicial Code – which allows corrections of errors committed in the resolutions – the prosecution made the correction and placed as foundation articles 389 and 390 of the Penal Code.

By mistake, the prosecution had stated that it was a crime against the economic order, when it was really a crime against the national economy and, therefore, was a case of corruption.

According to judge Carrasquilla, the correction of the investigation order to Lymberópulos by the prosecution established “as proven the existence of a crime of money laundering, as a crime precedent of international bribery, according to Article 389 of the Criminal Code, was not classified for the time of the occurrence of the facts investigated.

According to the judge, at the time of the facts charged to the defendant, ” the figure of international bribery was not found, which was included as precedent “

The prosecution has announced that it will appeal the decision since it did not take into account the correction made by the investigation office.

Bonding
The file states that Lymberópulos was linked to the investigation of the bribes based on the collaboration agreements that Odebrecht entered into with the prosecutor’s office, in which relevant documentation was provided, such as payment orders by the Department of Structured Operations of the construction company to  Marpesca Seatrade ., for $686,000   in  2007.

Despite the evidence included by the prosecution, and the alleged payment of bribes to Panamanian officials, the judge overturned the order of inquiry.

More luck
In another proceeding, the Fifteenth Criminal Court revoked the order to investigate Lymberópulos,  for alleged overpricing in the rental of helicopters with funds from the now-defunct  National Assistance Program (PAN).

The fifteenth criminal judge, Leslie Loaiza, concluded that the audit of the Office of the Comptroller General  did not take into account aspects such as free supply and demand in the valuation of the costs of the flights did not locate technical personnel specialized in aeronautics to quantify the real cost of the services of the company Heliflight Panamá, SA, of Lymberópulos.

The prosecution filed an appeal but the Second Superior Court of Justice upheld the decision of Judge Loaiza. The Public Ministry filed an appeal before the Supreme Court which, decided to close the process In another case, the Court also declared null the investigation of Lymberópulos for alleged money laundering, an offense derived from  investigations of the former Minister of Social Development  Guillermo Ferrufino in an unjustified enrichment case