Martinelli faces new trial,sons await extradition
On the day Panama announced the date of the re-trial of former president Ricardo Martinelli on charges of illegal interception of communications the United States Charge D’Affaires in Panama, Stewart Tuttle, appeared on Radio Panama to express the hope that Guatemala will complete the extradition of his sons Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares
Both are accused in a New York court for the alleged money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, as part of the bribes from Odebrecht.
There is still no date for the delivery to the United States of both Panamanians, who have been detained in Guatemala for five months. in the Mariscal Zavala military prison.
“I don’t want to go to the bottom and cloud a process that is underway. But we do have an extradition treaty with Guatemala and we expect it to be fulfilled in this case, and it is important to reiterate that we take very seriously when people take advantage of our financial system to launder money, ”said Tuttle.
“The stability of the dollarized economy, which greatly benefits Panama and the Panamanian people, depends on trust in the system, and money laundering basically upsets that trust. So when people try to take advantage of our financial system in that way, it should come as no surprise that they have to face the US judicial system, ”added Tuttle.
The children of the former President were captured in Guatemala on July 6, when they tried to board a private plane that would bring them to Panama. Three days earlier the United States had sent the request for a provisional arrest to the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry, for extradition purposes.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expeditiously, forwarded the request to the Public Ministry of Guatemala the same day, “the entity that is in charge of filing the indicated requirements before the Jurisdictional Body.”
According to an accusation filed by the FBI -with whose agents the brothers held meetings on several occasions and in person-, Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique had participated as “intermediaries” in the receipt and payment of bribes for $ 28 million, “under the direction of Odebrecht.
The payments – as stated in the sealed indictment that is in a New York court, by order of a judge – would have benefited a Panamanian official, whose name has not been noted in the documents released so far. However, this official is described as “an official with a very high position in the government of Panama” between 2009 and 2014, a period that corresponds to the presidential mandate of Martinelli, and, in addition, a “close relative” of the two defendants.
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