Supreme Court rejects appeal of six-year jail term for ex-minister and wife

The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court (CSJ) did not admit a last resort appeal presented by the defense of the former Minister of Social Development, Guillermo Ferrufino, and his wife Milena Vallarino de Ferrufino, to try to annul the six-year prison imposed on them 18 months ago, for unjustified enrichment.

In a decision adopted on September 14, the Criminal Chamber did not admit the appeal presented by the Ferrufino spouses, against the sentence handed down by the Third Court for Liquidation of Criminal Cases (today the Second Court for Liquidation of Criminal Cases).

The ruling was presented by Judge Ariadne Maribel García and was supported by Judge María Eugenia López Arias. Otilda de Valderrama, Maribel Cornejo’s substitute, accepted her vote.

In February 2022, the then Third Court of Criminal Cases convicted Ferrufino, as well as his wife, for not having been able to justify a fortune of $2.2 million, accumulated while he was minister of Mides, during the administration of former president Ricardo Martinelli (2009- 2014).