Lottery officials face embezzlement  charges

Two officials of the National Charity Lottery were charged with the crime of embezzlement and of inviolability of home and workplace.

The guarantee judge, Manuel Sánchez, also legalized the arrest and ordered precautionary measures prohibiting departure from the province of Panama, prohibition to approach the victims, reassignment of tasks other than public attention outside their workplace, as well as protection measures for victims or witnesses.

Prosecutor Juan Gutiérrez of the Panama Oeste regional office presented the elements of conviction, managing to prove the criminal conduct of the accused.

The event took place on March 12, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., when two officials who work at the metropolitan headquarters of the National Charity Lottery moved to commercial premises, located in the district of Arraiján, aboard a vehicle. with a yellow stripe and clothing that identified them as officials of the institution, with the purpose of allegedly locating evidence of clandestine lottery sales, without having an order and the presence of a competent authority to search the business premises.

The National Charity Lottery (LNB) released a statement on Wednesday, March 15, reiterating that all the operations carried out to combat the illegal sale of chances and tickets are carried out in collaboration with the corresponding authorities such as municipalities, Police National and Justices of the Peace  it

 followed a clandestine operation, ” not organized or authorized by the LNB, in the West Panama Province ”.

The entity called on the community in general so that in the face of this type of illegal action they give the alert and present the corresponding complaints.

” The institution as a transparent and responsible entity took the respective administrative and legal actions,” the statement stressed.