Prosecutor requests trial of Martinelli and 24 cohorts

The Public Ministry (MP) has requested the summons to trial of 25 people in the “New Business ” case for the alleged use of public funds for the purchase of the Epasa publishing group  publisher of Critica and Dia a Dia in 2010, during the Ricardo Martinelli government period (2009-2014).

The  Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime, reported that on Thursday, March 18, it sent the file to the Third Court for Criminal Proceedings of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama.

In the fiscal hearing – which consists of 161 volumes – the dismissal is also requested for 9 people, investigated for the alleged commission of the crime against the economic order, in the form of money laundering.

The brothers Daniel and David Ochy, Felipe Pipo Virzi, Gabriel Btesh, Riccardo Francolini, Ricardo Chanis and Martinelli  are among the accused.

As part of the investigation, it was established that $43,912,828. was transferred through a complex scheme for the purchase of a social media outlet, the MP said in a statement. Of that amount, $9.2,million in shares has been recovered, which were remitted to the National Treasury; this represents, in turn, the recovery of 30% of the shares of the Epasa publishing group for the State.

Former President Martinelli was one of the last defendants. The prosecution summoned him to the investigation on July 2, but he accepted article 25 of the Constitution order not to testify against himself, brought out the principle of specialty between Panama and the States, and presented a medical disability.

In this case, the former president has a measure preventing him from leaving the country, and the duty to notify the judicial authorities on the 15th of each month reports La Prensa.