Martinelli’s ex-secretary loses arrest freedom bid

A request for bail not to be detained was denied to Adolfo Chichi De Obarrio, private secretary of former President Ricardo Martinelli, by the First Criminal Liquidation Court, in the process for alleged embezzlement in the purchase of backpacks through the National Aid Program (PAN).

Judge Agueda Renteria dismissed the petition presented by attorney Víctor Collado, on behalf of De Obarrio, considering that the defendant has not shown interest in appearing in the process and that he is charged with serious crimes, such as embezzlement, corruption of public servants, and fraud in public procurement acts since 2016.

The judge also took into consideration the remarks by the former director of the PAN, Rafael Guardia Jaén, who confessed to the Public Ministry that De Obarrio was the one who ordered which companies had to grant the contracts.

In 2018, the now liquidated Fifteenth Criminal Court requested Interpol to arrest De Obarrio.

For this reason, De Obarrio was arrested in Milan, Italy. However, he was released days later because the National Assembly of Panama has not ratified the extradition treaty agreed between Panama and Italy in 2013, a procedure that the Parliament of Italy did.

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