First ex-deputy charged in Assembly funds scam

A former Panama lawmaker Absalón Herrera appeared before a judge of guarantees on Thursday, September 19, and was  charged with fraudulent wrongdoing and falsehood, in the middle of a process related to communal meetings.

He is likely the first of many from previous administrations whose activities were uncovered by a media investigation and are facing trial. He jumped ship from  the PRD to the CD when Ricardo Martinelli became president

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Adecio Mojica will request precautionary measures in the case in another hearing that has not yet been scheduled, but had already been requested, said a Public Ministry statement.

The Prosecutor said that acts against the public administration and that of falsehood are being investigated, and he does not rule out that other people will be charged, for using state assets in an improper way, using the national banking system to cash checks of the National Assembly.

The penalty ranges from 8 to 15 years.

The investigation against Herrera began, after an investigation by La Prensa revealed that the defendant handled $3 million that would be used for social works in the Guna Yala region and that they were administered through the communal board of Playa Leona.

Mojica said that the investigations began in 2014 and after the first inquiries, an audit report was requested from the Comptroller General, which was delivered in March 2018.

The main fact, according to the prosecutor in statements to Noticias AM, in July, is the mismanagement of public flows, that is, the transfers that were made to the communal meetings.

What has been determined in the eye inspections, Mojica explained, is that in remote places there are boards that do not have an office, but did have an account with a large amount of money that should be used for the benefit of the community, however, it  was returned to Panama City, for other uses.