Abraham Rico Pineda Tejada, Son of PRD Deputy Raúl Pineda is in La Nueva Joya Prison

This decision was made at a hearing held Friday afternoon September 6 of 2024.  The Superior Court of Appeals of the first judicial district of the Accusatory Penal System confirmed the provisional detention of Abraham Rico Pineda Tejada, son of PRD deputy Raúl Pineda, while he is investigated for the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering, as part of Operation Jericho.  The court assessed the evidence presented by the Superior Drug Prosecutor’s Office, including the content of a telephone conversation between the deputy’s son and his domestic worker, a woman named Felita.  On August 14, one day before judicial authorities raided his home in Albrook, in Panama City; Rico Pineda called Felita and ordered her to say that they were at the beach when they came to look for him. On August 15 when the raid was carried out, the authorities noticed that the safe was empty.  Abraham Rico Pineda Tejada during that earlier conversation with Felita, asked her to empty the safe. 

According to intercepted telephone conversations that support the case, Pineda Tejada gave almost $90,000 to a Colombian citizen Jonathan Parra, who was arrested by the police while transporting the money.  Parra reached a plea agreement with the authorities and confessed that the money was the product of money laundering.  At the hearing held on Friday, this element was also taken into account by the court, as well as the financial performance report, which indicates possible illegal activities in companies created supposedly to launder money from drug trafficking.  The audio recordings intercepted from the deputy’s son also reveal that, at the time of agreeing on the delivery of the sum, his father, Raúl Pineda, ordered him to make the delivery at the headquarters of Servicios Múltiples Rama SA located in Betania.  Abraham Rico Pineda was sent to Nueva Joya, the country’s largest prison. His father shown below, insists that his son is innocent. 

The judges of the Superior Court of Appeals, Asunción Alonso, Leira Terán and Miriam Jaén, determined that Abraham Rico Pineda had “full knowledge” that he was being investigated and that despite this, it was not until several days later that he decided to surrender to the authorities.  The judges also agreed that the deputy’s son should remain in prison because there is a risk of flight, as he has the financial resources to neglect the process, as well as the possibility of destroying evidence.  They said that the evidence provided by the Public Prosecutor’s Office reveals “a serious and compromised connection” of the accused.  The hearing took place in courtroom number 2 of the Superior Court of Appeals. Rico Pineda was connected via a video system from the La Nueva Joya prison.  He remained silent the entire time.  He listened attentively to the development of the judicial proceedings.  His lawyer, Victor Orobio, insisted that the prosecution has not substantiated his client’s connection to Operation Jericho.  He added that it only links him to one of the 24 events that are part of the investigation.