From bridal suite to prison cell
WEST VALDÉS former director of the scandal shrouded Financial Pacific (FP) brokerage left Panama’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, en route to a cell in the El Renacer prison.
El Renacer, in Gamboa, is home to other high profile detainees including ex- military dictator Manuel Noriega and former Supreme Court president, Moncada Luna.
Valdés, wearing a bullet proof vest and under heavy security had spent the previous night in police cells at the headquarters of the Department of Judicial Investigation (DIJ), after being brought from the Dominican Republic, where he had been arrested on an Interpol red alert.
He has been photographed on the weekend at his wedding celebration in the Dominican Republic
The 13th Criminal Judge Alina Hubiedo notified Valdés of the pending charges against him. The charges had prompted the red alert
Valdés was handcuffed and guarded at all times by several police officers.
He faces charges related to a $9 million loan granted by Caja de Ahorros (CA) to HPCContratasP & V, the consortium hired to build the Amador Convention Center. $7 million was diverted to accounts at FP.
Riccardo Francolini former president of the CA board of directors and Jayson Pastor, the former general manager, are currently being held in custody.
The murky background of Financial Pacific includes a disappeared auditor who blew the whistle on irregularities, the stabbing of another investigator, reports by an employee of a secret “High Spirit” account owned by Ricardo Martinelli used to manipulate shares of Petaquilla Mines, an allegations of the involvement of other high profile members of the community, including one in a senior position with the Waked, family conglomerate, currently on the Clinton list for reported involvement in money laundering and drug smuggling.
A vehicle carrying others with connections to FP received a fusillade of bullets last year.
