Prosecutors following $247 million trail to local boards

Panama’s  Public Ministry, through an anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, is working on  200 cases related to possible irregularities in the management of public funds in communal meetings from  2009-2014.

The spotlight is currently on the communal boards of the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Coclé, Los Santos, Herrera, Chiriquí, and Veraguas.

All these processes are expedited under the norms of the accusatory criminal system (SPA) reports La Prensa.

Anti-corruption prosecutor Javier Miter Burgos, for example, from his office in Veraguas, has interviewed former officials and officials of the communal boards and has conducted eye inspections, and requested documentation from local governments under scrutiny, and has requested information from different banks in the country. So far no one has been charged

To file charges, the prosecution must present the evidence before a guarantees judge.

In February 2018, Comptroller  Federico Humbert revealed at a press conference that $247 million were transferred by deputies to different communal boards between 2009 and 2014. At that time he said he had “wide doubts that the money delivered has reached the real beneficiaries.”