ODEBRECHT: Defense of 50 accused of “robbery of State funds” begins

On Day 10 day of the preliminary hearing of the Odebrecht case,  defenders of 50 accused of money laundering,  began the task of separating their clients from the illicit activities and distorting the thesis of the Public Ministry, whose prosecutors have reiterated that the case “is solid.

During three days of pleading, they showed the country the labyrinth of companies that facilitated the bribes, pointed out the beneficiaries, and exposed the role of lawyers, banks, figureheads and officials, and politicians with the power to make decisions in multi-million dollar infrastructure projects in the country.

“The link is clear, the punishable act is accredited. Logically, the defense has to do its job, it represents these people” said prosecutor Mahmad Daud Hasan on Friday, and once again called the process a “robbery of state funds.”

The first to argue was Pedro Meilán, who defends Javier Díaz Torres and Rodrigo Díaz Paredes.  He said that Díaz Torres, is a Spanish banker who worked as an assistant at Banca Privada de Andorra (BPA), linked to the constitution of companies and foundations from BPA Serveis. At BPA, Aeon Group, Klienfield Services, Ltd., Mengil International, Pachira and Ralford Limited, among others, companies that received money from Odebrecht as part of the bribery scheme, had an account.

The lawyer said that his client did not participate in the preparation of the companies, since that was the task of a law firm, which appointed the dignitaries. “He did not charge, he is not a beneficiary, he did not make a contract. He wasn’t even supposed to inquire. He has not been proven to have any crime,” he told the judge.

But, the prosecution argues that Díaz Torres was “aware of the business structures devised and built through the subsidiary of the bank.”

Meilán began the defense of Díaz Paredes for the transfers he received from Kleinfeld Services, another of the companies used by Odebrecht

He branded the inquiries and the tax hearing as “copy and paste“ and the international bribery crime cannot be applied to his client, because it came into force in 2008 and the last transfer received by his client was in February 2008. “All the precepts of legitimate defense are violated. They have violated the right to defense, ” he said.

According to the prosecution, Díaz Paredes received money from Kleinfeld Services in Inversora Villa Loly, SA ($1.1 million) and Logaro, SA ($545,818).

Díaz Paredes was a leader of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). He was the fifth undersecretary of the powerful National Executive Committee when Martín Torrijos was the general secretary of the party and, at the time, he was president (2004-2009).

Díaz was also a key figure in “Team Martín that led Torrijos to the Presidency. “They are trying to put everyone in jail and that is not correct,” said Meilán.

Andorran bankers
Alexander Allard argued in favor of Norberto Sanguinetti and Frances Xavier Pérez Giménez, former BPA bankers.

Sanguinetti is related to the Aeon Group company, which transferred millionaire funds to several of those investigated in the process.

“He is a manager, not an account opener, much less worked in Odebrecht’s private banking,”

Pérez Giménez, was limited to coming to Panama because he was “a financial structurer.” “These people have not been linked, they have not received money, they are not in the financial traceability,” he explained.  pointing out “a series of errors and inconsistencies in the tax hearing.” He said his client only provided an insurance broker service through his company Prevenza.

Former judge Aníbal Salas Céspedes, the defender of Juan Antonio Niño, was the next to take the stand stating that “they have identified a series of assertions that are not true.” According to the prosecution’s theory, Niño is linked to the case because Active Capital Holdings, a company he presides over, would have made transfers to Sherkson, a company from which the Odebrecht Structured Operations Department transferred millions of dollars for the payment of bribes. Active made a transfer of $488,457 to Sherkston. And another deposit for $1,229,538, from his Multibank account, to a financial institution with strong ties to Odebrecht: Meinl Bank.

Salas Céspedes assured that they were legal transactions. Like the previous lawyer, he delved into the world of insurance and reinsurance and its complexities. He added that his client’s relationship with the companies linked to Odebrecht “is normal and legal.”

Honest lawyers 
Gustavo Pereira supported the defense of lawyers Juan Carlos Rosas and Rosa Mary Molino Paz, from the forensic firm Rosas & Rosas, which provided services to Odebrecht. She said they both approached customer service “honestly.”

According to the prosecution, the Rosas & Rosas account at Banistmo received transfers from Odebrecht companies, from which bribes were distributed, including Constructora Internacional del Sur, Innovation Research, and Kleinfeld Services.

Pereira said that his clients did “due diligence” in their relationship with the construction company.

Fernando Morales Magallón, the lawyer for the former Minister of Housing, José Domingo Mimito Arias, recalled the elements that link his client to the process: an advertising contract between Polis América, the publicists Joao Santana and Mónica Maura, with the Democratic Change party (CD). Arias was the CD presidential candidate in the 2014 election when Ricardo Martinelli was still in power.

According to the file, Maura was contacted by André Rabello  Odebrecht Director in Panama, to manage Arias’ advertising campaign. The cost: $21 million to be paid by Odebrecht.

Magallón said that when one of the contracts was signed, his representative was not a candidate.

He quoted Maura’s words to the effect that his client “did not commit any crime.” Maura, he assured, also said that Arias did not negotiate anything.

“In 2013, there was no way to predict that Odebrecht] was carrying out illicit activities. It was a company that had moral solvency”,

Joy Paull Torres, the defender of  Uruguayan Juan Francisco Mutio Cerdeiras, who served as legal representative of Sherkson International, also spoke.

According to the prosecution, in 2014, on behalf of Sherkson International, Mutio signed a contract with Active Capital, “in order to give a legal appearance to the transaction that was made to the Sherkson International account at PKB Privatbank.”

The jurist said that nothing was done to bring his client to present an investigation in the case and that he recently found out about the hearing.

Former magistrate Jerónimo Mejía spoke in favor of Uruguayan Maya Cikurel and requested her dismissal. He argued that was a victim of the Odebrecht group.

He said that she has already been dismissed by Swiss justice for the same facts for which she has  been investigated in Panama and said that Panama does not have jurisdiction to investigate his client, because “the atypical acts that she carried out were carried out from Uruguay.”

As expected, said La Prensa all the lawyers who have requested the dismissal of their clients.