Deputy Raúl Pineda Democratic Revolutionary Party Reappears

After several days of absence from the National Assembly, Deputy Raúl Pineda, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), returned to the legislative palace and reappears in the Assembly; however he omitted to talk about the audios that link him to Operation Jericho.  The politician assured that he will distance himself from politics, expressed his confidence in the justice system and clarified that he does not hold the Government responsible for the case facing his son, Abraham Rico Pineda, investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for his alleged participation in the criminal network dismantled during Operation Jericho, in which he is accused of money laundering.

A company, Servicios Múltiples Rama SA, linked to Abraham Rico Pineda, won a contract under anti-corruption rules in Passports.  He obtained a contract for $40,500 to clean the entity’s offices for 15 months, under an award protected by security, anti-bribery and anti-corruption regulations.  In 2023, when the entity was under the leadership of Omar Ahumada, a call for contracts was issued in August, with proposals submitted in September.  The reference price was $45,000 for general cleaning services (bathrooms, floors, glass doors, workstations, cafeteria, internal and external hallways, ramps and front area) at the offices of the Panama Passport Authority.  The institution, responsible for issuing travel documents, has highly sensitive and restricted areas that handle critical data, such as blank travel documents, robust databases, passport personalizers and cash handling areas. 

For this reason, personnel in charge of entering these areas were required to meet a rigorously evaluated profile, including training or awareness of the ISO 37001 standard.  This internationally recognized standard establishes an anti-bribery and anti-corruption management system in sensitive environments.  According to the Drug Prosecutor’s Office, Abraham Rico Pineda was part of a criminal organization that received money from illegal activities related to drug trafficking.  Servicios Múltiples Rama, the company that won contracts during Laurentino Cortizo’s government, is believed to be linked to this network. “It has been determined that this company had some kind of link with respect to tenders.  This part is incipient,” said Attorney General Javier Caraballo.