Martinelli frontman  named in $91 million Panama bribery case

Three subsidiaries of t  Spanish construction company FCC will appear before the National Court of Spain on Friday, November  22 charged with the payment of 82 million euros ($91 million at current exchange rates) in bribes to obtain contracts for the construction of Panama Metro lines and the City of  Health .

Judge Ismael Moreno accuses the subsidiaries of FCC Construcción, FCC Construcción Central America and Construcciones Hospitalarias) of corruption crimes in international transactions and money laundering.

Afonso Iglesia González will appear before the Court as a “specially appointed representative” of the company

The anti-corruption agency in Spain has several supposed indications that suggest that senior FCC executives and Odebrecht company staff designed a scheme to divert funds, which was based on inflating the price of the steel supply needed to build the Panama metro and to invoice it at double its price.

According to Judge Moreno’s thesis, funds were obtained to allegedly pay bribes to employees and political leaders of Panama. Among the recipients of the bribes was the lawyer Mauricio Cort, an alleged frontman of former President  Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014).

In a statement published the day the investigations came to light, FCC explained that they were aware of an alleged act of corruption in Panama in 2010 and that since 2015 (when Carlos Slim took control of the company), the shareholders of control, advisors and managers  have collaborated with the authorities with the intent of thoroughly reviewing the events that completely violate their principles of ethics and compliance.

“Throughout the FCC Group, a total commitment to the principle of zero tolerance for corruption is established. The notification received has been produced within the framework of the investigation which, from the first day in which the notification was received,  has relied on our collaboration ”, says an FCC statement.

Local  charges
In Panama 14 people have been investigated for alleged embezzlement, corruption and money laundering.

The investigations cover about five projects, among them, road rearrangement in Vía Brazil, the widening of Ave. Domingo Diaz Avenue and the renovation of the Historical Heritage, in Casco Viejo.