Prosecutor asks 5 years jail for substitute deputy

A sentence of five years in prison was requested by Judge María Eugenia López Arias, in her capacity as prosecutor in the trial of the substitute representative of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), Kristelle Getzler de De Lima, for the alleged crime of money laundering capitals through a basket account in the name of Blue Apple Services.

The prosecutor assured that the evidence incorporated into the investigation, among which is the investigation conducted by the former director of the National Assistance Program (PAN). ), Giacomo Tamburelli, where he stated that the former Minister of Economy and Finance, Frank De Lima, received $500,000 from the Blue Apple company, which were channeled through the company Inversiones y Servicios LB, SA. Part of those funds ($30,000) were used for the purchase of a BMW car, which was placed in the name of Getzler, wife of former Minister De Lima.

Getzler, who was an official in the Ministry of the Presidency in the government of Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014), addressed the full Court, to try to justify the purchase of the vehicle. She said that she did not know of the existence of Blue Apple until the scandal was reported in the media.

The tax magistrate recalled that Tamburelli declared that some companies benefited from public funds channeled through the Blue Apple basket account. This account was fueled with bribes provided by State contractors, according to what the businessmen themselves confessed to the Public Ministry.

In her argument, Dinoska Montalvo (Getzler ‘s lawyer) assured that her client had no way of knowing that the money given for the purchase of the BMW could have had an illicit origin. She also provided De Lima, Federico Barrios, and Joaquín Rodríguez as witnesses. Tamburelli was also requested as a witness but did not appear.

In the Blue Apple case, there are already eight people convicted, including the former Ministers of Public Works, Federico Suárez and Jaime Ford Castro, and the merchant Riccardo Francolini, former president of the board of directors of the Caja de Ahorros and member of the former president Martinelli’s circle zero,

Two sons of Martinelli are awaiting trial but, last August they were sworn in as substitute deputies of Parlacen, the case, as far as they are concerned, went to the Court.

The Court has not yet informed when the trial of Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares will be.