Bank loan went to Martinelli inner circle

Bank loan went to  Martinelli inner circle

THE CONTRACT signed by the consortium HPC-Contratos-P&V with state owned bank Caja de Ahorros (CA) It resulted in the consortium receiving credit lines of $30 million.

They are investigating the loan because part of the money, $9 million, ended up in accounts of shell companies that had no role in the project. The initial investigation revealed that the credit line was $10 million, but now prosecutors say there was an additional $20 million available for the convention center project, which was never completed.

The loan has also been questioned because one of the members of the consortium, Contratos, was not registered until January 2013, while the loan was granted in December of 2012.

As collateral, the bank accepted a parcel of land worth $675,000 acquired in 2005 by the company Agro Chepo, S.A.

The inner circle
The principals of that company are Felipe Virzi, Ricardo Calvo and Gabriel Btesh.

All are close associates of former President Ricardo Martinelli, whose government awarded the convention center project. Btesh is reported to have fled the country

While the land was purchased for $675,000, its value was assessed at $24 million when it accepted it as collateral for the credit line.

In December 2013, CA authorized another $10 million in credit to the contractor.