Money launderer swaps 5 years jail for community work

Raúl De Saint-Malo Garcia  a   major  player in the Odebrecht bribery scandal who  was sentenced  to five years in prison  for money laundering after reaching a collaboration deal, had his jail term changed to  community work by a compliance judge on Tuesday, O

Saint-Malo García, must attend meetings on of the Ancón Community Board on Fridays from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm In addition, he is prohibited from leaving the country.

The community work must be done for a period of 960 days.

De Saint Malo García,  a brother of the former vice president Isabel De Saint Malo, reached a collaboration and penalty agreement with the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor in March.

The case has sparked widespread criticism of the system because, despite the sentence of 5 years in prison, De Saint Malo was never arrested.

The defense originally requested the replacement of the prison sentence for work as a teacher in n a public university. The request was rejected because it was accompanied by documentation showing the teaching post would be unpaid