High official of Panama government got $10 million in Odebrecht bribes

 A person described as “a high official of the Panamanian government” between 2009 and 2014 – a period that corresponds to the presidential mandate of  – received almost $10 million in alleged bribes from  Odebrecht, using a complex scheme for money laundering. money through the American financial system.

The name of the high official is not mentioned, but his identity is known to the New York prosecutors

Payments were made between November 2010 and August 2011, using accounts opened in Swiss banks in the name of companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

The entire operation was described as part of the indictment brought in the Eastern District Court of New York, against two former executives of Anglo Austrian AAB Bank AG (formerly known as Meinl Bank), who face four charges for allegedly conspiring with Odebrecht to pay bribes in half the world, in exchange for state contracts to carry out public works.

The indictment against Peter Weinzierl, the former chief executive of the Austrian private bank, and Alexander Waldstein, was filed last year but has since remained sealed. It was finally revealed on Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York when 55-year-old Weinzierl who was arrested in the UK  appeared. Waldstein, 73, is a fugitive.

The accusation was presented by the assistant prosecutor Julia Nestor, who also acts in the process followed against,  Ricardo Martinelli’ssons required by the United States on charges related to alleged money laundering. Both are detained in Guatemala, awaiting extradition to the United States. In the accusation filed against the children of former President Martinelli l, Nestor refers to them as “intermediaries” who would have accepted and laundered bribery payments from Odebrecht, for the benefit of “a high-ranking Panamanian government official,” between 2009 and 2014, who would be a close relative to both.

The Judge Raymond Dearie is assigned to the two cases: the brothers Martinelli Linares and the ex-bankers of the Meinl Bank.