OPINION: Using the Presidency as a  Den

The final arguments of the prosecution in the New Business case were revealing, in the sense that all the pieces of the puzzle created to hide the final beneficiaries and the origin of the money – almost all of it from the State – used to acquire the shares of Epasa, evidencing the illegality of the operation, as well as the suspicious lack of controls and corporate governance of one of the banks in which the Martinelli Linares family was a major shareholder. According to the prosecution, the former president demanded money from state contractors who initially refused but ended up agreeing in exchange for addenda to their contracts, in order to obtain the money that was demanded of them. Thus it has been proven that the former president bought Epasa with public funds, but was not satisfied with that, then he sustained the operation of that company, for four years, with state advertising contracts. Round business. Even a personal loan with the Savings Bank was canceled with the funds collected in the New Business basket account. And all this was put together, executed, and enjoyed from the solemnity of the presidential office. They have used the Presidency of the Republic as if it were a den. You cannot fall lower. – LA PRENSA, Jun. 1.