NEW BUSINESS:  Prosecutor asks for maximum sentence for Martinelli and 12 cohorts

At the trial hearing for the New Business case, the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime, by Prosecutor Emeldo Márquez, requested the maximum sentence against 13 accused, including former President Ricardo Martinelli, for the crime of money laundering after the purchase of the Panamá América publishing house.

Márquez requested the maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, plus a half sentence increase for aggravating factors, which would lead the former president and the other 12 defendants to pay up to 18 years in prison.

According to prosecutor Márquez, Ricardo Martinelli is the perpetrator of the crime of money laundering because he transferred funds personally and through an intermediary to the New Business account, with full knowledge that these funds corresponded to State contracts with different businessmen.

In addition, in his arguments, he requested the acquittal of the defendant’s Jack Btesh and Salomón Btesh, two of the co-defendants in the trial.