Prosecutor gets green light to appeal New Business acquittals

 

The Superior Court for Settlement of Criminal Cases has the green light to the specialized prosecutor against organized crime, Emeldo Marquez, to present an appeal against the decision of criminal judge Baloisa Marquínez, to acquit 10 people accused of laundering money through a basket account in the name of the New Business company.

Marquez presented an appeal against the dismissals ordered by Judge Marquínez, but the appeal was rejected as untimely because the court considered that he had presented it outside the deadline established by law.

The prosecutor appealed before the Superior Court of Liquidation.

A September 6 ruling orders Judge Marquínez to grant the appeal so the prosecution can present its appeal and defense attorneys can support their opposition briefs.

On July 17, Judge Marquínez handed down a ruling against former President Ricardo Martinello and four other people for the crime of money laundering. With the appeal, this ruling is not final.

In that same ruling, the judge acquitted the brothers Nicolás and José Carlos Corcione Pérez Balladares, Gonzalo Germán Gómez, Iván Clare Arias, Aaron Ronny Mizrachi ( Martinelli’s brother-in-law), Vernon Salazar Zurita, Salomón Btesh Btesh, Jack Btesh Hazan, Leo Cohen Mugrabi and Marcos Ángel Acrich. The prosecution had requested the acquittal of only two of them: that of Jack Btesh and that of his son Solomon.

Martinelli was sentenced to 128 months in prison and fined $19.2 million. The other four convicted are Janeth Vásquez, Valentín Martínez, Iván Arrocha and Daniel Ochy, with sentences between 60 to 96 months in prison.