Anti-corruption squad raids government sports body

The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s team raided the offices of the Panamanian Institute of Sports ( Pandeportes),  in Juan Díaz, on Tuesday, June 4  as part of the investigation into the scandal of the economic contributions allegedly made by the entity to sports associations and federations. 

The Office of the Prosecutor and the Office of the Comptroller General began the probe after a series of investigative reports by   La Prensa, which uncovered the irregular management of the funds that Pandeportes contributed to the sports federations, several of them linked to deputies of the National Assembly. It was shown that equipment meant for some teams, and others were shown to have received “virtual” baseball pats invoiced at $600 apiece

The Tuesday Tuesday swoop was headed by anti-corruption prosecutor Leyda Sáenz,  with the prior authorization of a judge of guarantees. She complained of lack of cooperation from Pandeportes.

“The message is that all public entities, natural persons, legal entities, are obliged to collaborate with the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) when the MP requires some type of information.” If the information is not provided or you are evasive, we have a legal power to request an authorization from a judge to conduct a search warrant, as is being done today, “said the prosecutor. 

 Sáenz explained that the prosecutor’s office conducted an investigation in March of this year, but “we have not received the corresponding response as a result of that diligence.” She added that auditors of the  Comptroller of the Republic have indicated that they have not been given all the support concerned by that entity. 

On May 23 the prosecutor’s office conducted inspections of the suppliers Dutary Sport and Nikys Corp, seeking some evidence that the companies had delivered the sports equipment acquired with Pandeportes funds.