NEW BUSINESS: Expert witness stands firm against defense attacks
Monday was another long and exhausting day for expert witness Eliseo Ábrego in the New Business trial. The accountant spent five hours on the stand answering questions from eight lawyers: seven defenders who were questioning his audit of the $43.9 million that entered the New Business account in December 2010, and the prosecutor who was defending his theory of the case: that Epasa was acquired with public funds.
The defenders tried to delegitimize his work, but the expert with nearly 25 years of service defended his investigation. Ábrego detailed the existence of structures that allowed money laundering, including factoring, corporations, trusts, and false contracts to collect $43.9 million for the acquisition of the publishing group, which publishes the newspapers Panamá América, Día a Día and Crítica. It concluded that the final beneficiaries of the Epasa publishing group were Ricardo Martinelli, through Corporación e Inversiones Multimedios, with 60%. The remaining 40% corresponded to Henry Mizrachi (20%) and other shareholders (20%).
23% of the $22 million that the State paid as an advance for the construction of the Arraiján-Panama highway ended up in the New Business account, which functioned as a basket to collect the money to buy the publishing group, explained the accountant who works in the Financial Crimes Unit of the Judicial Investigation Directorate (DIJ).
TCT (Transcaribe Trading), which won the tender to build the highway, had an overdraft of $2 million when an advance of $12 million fell into its account. When the transfer fell, the bank immediately absorbed the overdraft. Of the remaining $10 million, $5.5 million ended up in the New Business account, through transfers made by six companies, he added.”Once they receive the money, these companies write checks for the same amount, a few cents less or more, for the New Business account,” said the expert.
Ábrego also established that money from the construction of the sports city – which Condotte Panamá & Asociados was awarded – served to cancel credits from Henry Mizrachi, one of the publisher’s purchase managers. He also said that Condotte Panama & Associates wrote a check for $600,000 for Global Office Corp, in an account at the Savings Bank, which was not justified because there was no commercial or financial relationship between the companies. “The company is canceling commitments for which it is not responsible…”, said Àbrego. Regarding an advance of $1 million that the National Assembly of Deputies transferred to the account of Constructora Corcione & Asociados for the new building that cost $19.4 million, the accountant explained that it was transferred to an account of the Clio Group, which is part of the group of companies of the construction company, and then it was transferred to the New Business account. After 11 hours between Friday and Monday, the expert concluded what has been the longest day of questioning in the trial, which seeks to determine the criminal responsibility of 15 people in the purchase of the publishing group with public funds.
HIGH SPIRIT ACCOUNT
Maribel Tuñón appeared as an expert contributed by the defense of Aaron Mizrachi, who prepared a report on the High Spirit investment account, which is related to the Financial Pacific brokerage house. She maintained that the management of the account was “in law” complying with the regulations of the stock market. Alfredo Vallarino, Martinelli’s lawyer, disqualified the expert’s audit. “He did not check corporate books. He based his report on what the prosecution told him. And in what the prosecution obtained from a protected witness,” said Vallarino.
“Show the country that you did a clean investigation, that those witnesses can be cross-examined. Show that the Public Ministry has white hands and not stained”, said Vallarino.
