Martinelli’s appeal against laundering sentence heads to Supreme Court

The Superior Court for Settlement of Criminal Cases has sent to the Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court the appeal presented by former president Ricardo Martinelli against the ruling in the New Business case.

This is an appeal presented by Martinelli Daniel Ochy, Janeth Vásquez, Iván Arrocha Chevalier, and Valentín Martínez; after the magistrates of the Liquidation Court confirmed the conviction for the crime of money laundering, through the ruling of October 24, 2023.

Now it will be up to the Criminal Chamber to resolve the issue of the former president and the other four people. The Chamber comprises judges María Eugenia López, Maribel Cornejo, and Ariadne García.

Martinelli was sentenced to 128 months in prison for the New Business case last July. Since then, he has introduced the resources allowed by the Law to annul Judge Baloisa Marquínez’s decision.

The edict indicates that “the announced and formalized appeals of the lawyers Luis Eduardo Camacho (son) and Carlos Carrillo, private defenders of Ricardo Martinelli, and another group of defendants are granted with suspensive effect.”

 This investigation began in 2017, when the Public Ministry became aware of the alleged commission of a crime against the economic order in the form of money laundering, related to the purchase of a social media outlet.