Embezzlement case against ex-tourism boss validated.

Panama’s  Second Superior Court has  validated a decision of the Twelfth Criminal Court that received a complainant the  Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) in a process against the former director Salomon ‘Salo’ Shamah and seven others accused of alleged embezzlement  for alleged irregularities in a contract for the construction of a tourist berth valued at $135,000, in Rio de Jesus, Veraguas.

In a ruling of October 22, the Second Court argued that based on Article 171 of the Judicial Code it is an obligation for the ATP to be part of this process, because of the economic effects that result from the criminal case.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against  Shamah, and seven others for alleged embezzlement, after the signing of a contract in  2010 signed with the Building Services Corporation for the construction of a tourist berth in Puerto Cabimo, Utira district, in the District of Río de Jesús, Veraguas.

The work was not effective in an agreed time and did not have an Environmental Impact Study for its development.

Shamah was a close confident of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli, and the master of electoral dirty tricks campaigns for the CD.