Anyone depositing bribes in a personal account is a retard – defense lawyer

Anyone who deposits bribes in a personal account is a ‘retard’, argued a defense lawyer at the start of the third week of the Odebrecht hearing on Monday, September 26.

The statement came from Alejandro Pérez, lawyer of María del Sol Rivera Bigas,  who received the pseudonym “ parakeet 3 ” in the Drousys computer system, used by Odebrecht to deliver the illegal money to four close friends of Ricardo Martinelli, “some of which had children with the former president,” says the tax hearing. The other three identified as “parakeets” were Linda Gesto, Úrsula Banz, and Aurora Muradas. The four (with Martinelli) are on the list of 50 defendants for whom the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office requests a summons to trial for alleged money laundering.

Pérez began his intervention by referring to the argument of two other lawyers, former judges Jerónimo Mejía and Aníbal Salas, defenders of Maya Cikurel and Juan Antonio Niño, respectively. According to Pérez, the defense of both former magistrates discredits the entire accusation.

He considered that the “cornerstone” of the process is the origin of the money that Odebrecht distributed: whether it is lawful or not, and he reflected that whoever deposits money from a bribe in his personal account -as his client allegedly did, according to the prosecution-, “He has to be ‘mentally retarded’,” he said dismissively.

His client, he added, has never been a civil servant and lives, “as a single mother”, from her job in the private sector. “exclaimed, adding that his client was never summoned for questioning. She maintains that the prosecution commits these irregularities, “because it wants to take Ricardo Martinelli by the horns.”

He also complained about the participation “as a protected witness” of the “criminal” Rodrigo Tacla Durán, a former Odebrecht financier, who sought refuge in Spain, where he now lives. “An international criminal wanted by the authorities of the United States and Brazil,” he cried.

Then, Pérez dedicated his statement to refer to former President Martinelli. He pointed out that he is the victim of Tacla Durán’s revenge since he -was the ruler- did not want to do him a favor. He acknowledged that Martinelli did receive money from Odebrecht, but they were “donations” for the political campaign and immediately said that several media outlets ( TVN, Medcom, Corprensa ) also received money from Odebrecht advertising guidelines, but the prosecution did not call them.