Transparency International calls for fresh probe of lawmakers’ $113 million plunder

The Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom, – The Panama chapter of Transparency International (IT)- has called on  anti-corruption prosecutor Adecio  Mojica , to submit a request to reopen the investigation for the alleged irregular handling of payrolls and donations managed by deputies of the National Assembly during the five year period 2014-2019.

In a letter dated August 28, Olga de Obaldía, executive director of the foundation said  that the petition is based on the fact that on August 23 it was reported that the Comptroller General Federico Humbert, had delivered to the Public Prosecutor’s Office 24 audits, in which presumed irregularities related to donations and payrolls of the National Assembly are detailed, for $113 million.

These summaries were provisionally dismissed on September 20, 2017, because there were no audits.

However, with the delivery of these by the Comptroller to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, it would be appropriate to request the reopening of the investigation.

Among the findings of the audits is the fact that 29,405 contracts were awarded for $113 million, and many of the 87,864  checks issued to pay them, according to the audits, were deposited in the accounts of deputies, and of officials who said they worked in the legislature , but that, at the same time, worked in other companies.

The audits also analyzed 5,728 donations in the amount of $15 million. Among the anomalies detected by the Comptroller in this item is the fact that some of the donation checks were found in the accounts of some deputies or companies linked to them.

Several of thee checks were quickly exchanged to obtain cash in a short time. This operation would have involved personnel working in the Assembly and individuals.

On April 20, 2017, the Foundation filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor to investigate Assembly officials Raúl Moreno Vaccaro, Marisela Araúz, Teófilo Gálvez, Ismael Frías, and Luis Rafael Cruz, then officials of the Municipal Council of Santiago, in Veraguas.