President slow to act on fugitive Canal board member

PANAMA President Juan Carlos Varela appears to be avoiding the issue of a fugitive member of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal facing an outstanding Interpol  Red Alert.

Nicolás Corcione,  a construction entrepreneur has been summoned numerous times to appear for interrogation in several criminal cases, but while initially protected by his status as a board member, his no-shows at meetings mean that he can be dismissed and his immunity lifted.

In December Varela, said that “the  Panama Canal is a very important asset of the State [so] we must protect its image and legal structures.”

Corcionne still has to provide explanations about the contract for the construction of the new headquarters of the National Assembly (AN) and money from this project that was deposited in bank accounts, whose funds were used to buy the Editora Panamá América (Epasa).

The money was part of an advance of funds for the work, agreed in the contract between the AN and Grupo Corcione and Associates, S.A. However, not everything was used for this purpose, reports La Prensa.

At least a million dollars ended up in a bank account of the foreign company N ew Business. Ltd., where other  State contractors contributed millions of dollars for the purchase of the publisher of the newspapers Panamá América and Crítica, and whose ownership is attributed to ex-president Ricardo Martinelli.

In past statements,  Corcionne maintained that this was a legitimate purchase of shares of the newspaper company, but the investigations point to other purposes, according to the reasoning of the Public Ministry, reports La Prensa.