Former Financial Pacific Executives Iván Clare, West Valdés, and Mayté Pellegrini Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison

The First Liquidation Court of Criminal Cases imposed a 96-month or 8 year prison sentence on the former directors of the now defunct and liquidated Financial Pacific brokerage firm.  There was an office in Boquete that was also shut down.  Iván Clare, West Valdés, Oscar Rodríguez and Mayté Pelligrini were charged for the crime of aggravated fraud against the company Caye International Bank, Ltd.  The ruling was signed by Judge Agueda Rentería.  The decision, notified through Edict No. 575, also establishes an additional sanction: the four convicted individuals will be barred from holding public office for the duration of their sentences, once they have served their prison terms. Below, Iván Clare to the left and West Valdés on the right.

This judicial chapter dates back to April 2024, when prosecutor Nivia Magaly Lorenzo formally requested a conviction during the trial, after asserting that the evidence was conclusive: those involved participated in fraudulent schemes to induce Caye Bank to transfer funds to an account at Financial Pacific, which operated outside the regulations of the Superintendency of the Securities Market (SMV).  Although the judge had initially only called Mayté Pellegrini to trial, the Superior Court for the Settlement of Criminal Cases overturned that decision and ordered Clare, Valdés, and Rodríguez to be included in the proceedings.  The history of Financial Pacific is a persistent stain on the memory of the Panamanian financial system. Pictured below is Mayte Pellegrini.

At one time, the brokerage firm was the center of scandals due to irregular management and shady operations, until it was taken over and finally liquidated.  But the saga didn’t end there. In November 2024, the same Judge Rentería ordered the reopening of an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to the company’s activities, following the revelation of a SMV report that pointed to suspicious transactions.  Thus, the Financial Pacific case continues to write pages in the courts, while its protagonists face the consequences of a scheme that still resonates in the country’s financial sector.

History: Court Reopened the Investigation into Money Laundering through Financial Pacific in November of 2024 

The Second Criminal Court has ordered the reopening of an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to the defunct Financial Pacific (FP) brokerage firm.  This investigation had been provisionally closed by a previous court due to an apparent lack of evidence. However, the new audit report, prepared by Mejía & Asociados on behalf of the SMV, has prompted the Circuit Prosecutor’s Office to request the case be reopened.