Financial Pacific Trial date set but key players awol

The preliminary hearing of 18 people investigated for the alleged money laundering to the detriment of the Superintendency of Securities Market (SMV), from the defunct firm Financial Pacific, will be held on September 13 and 14.

This was decided by Judge Baloisa Marquínez, of the Third Criminal Court for Liquidation, in an edict signed on June 25. An alternate date was established on October 18 and 19.

For this case, West Valdés and Iván Clare, founders of Financial Pacific, as well as Joel Antonio Watson, Ori Sasson Zbeda Levy, Mariel Rodríguez Espino, Carlos Javier Osorio Wald and Ramsés Owens are being investigated reports La Prensa.

Also featured are Riccardo Francolini, Aaron Mizrachi Malca, Ramón Crretero Napolitano, Valentín Martínez Vásquez and Margie Ángel Cohen.

The list of those investigated is completed by Cristóbal Salerno Ballesta, María Alejandra Salerno Gómez, Gabriel Btesh, Salomón Jack Btesh, Harry Nessim and Felipe Alejadro Virzi.

All of them were appointed public defenders (main and alternate), to represent them at the hearing, in case they do not appear before the judge that day.

Marquínez also ordered the notification (by summons) of Aaron Mizrachi Malca, Joel Watson and Iván Clare, all three whose whereabouts are unknown. The judge gave Mizrachi 40 days to appear in court, and Watson and Clare 10 days, and ordered their arrests, in case they do not appear.