543 defendants in $24 million buses scam case

The Preliminary Hearing of the “Diablos Rojos” (Red Devils) Bus Compensation case, involving 543 defendants will start on Monday, March 14.

They are charged with crime Against the Public Administration, to the detriment of the Transportation Authority (ATTT) when the Metrobus system was introduced

The hearing will be held at the Roberto Durán Arena Gymnasium due to the large number of accused, and its programming is contemplated until May 13.

The First Liquidator Court of Criminal Cases, in charge of Judge Águeda Rentería, in order to guarantee the right to defense of all the accused and the holding of the hearing on the alternate date, will have the support of the public defense Institute, who will act as main and alternate defenders, in case the Private Defense of the accused cannot attend the hearing.

On January 13, the First Criminal Cases Liquidator Court of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama set this new alternate date to hold the preliminary hearing, in response to an excuse presented by a private technical defense attorney.

Recently the Accounts Prosecutor, Waleska Hormechea, reported that the patrimonial damage for this case is around $24 million.

Hormechea details that in some of the irregularities detected there was a considerable number of beneficiaries who received compensation of more than $75,000.