Nex TV boss held in detention

RICCARDO FRANCOLINI, former president of the board of Caja de Ahorros, has joined  a long line of former high profile figures from the Ricardo Martinelli era who moved from  a high end home via a corruption prosecutor’s office to a detention cell.

Rodrigo Arosemena Pino, the former deputy manager of the bank, was also ordered detained by Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Tania Sterling on Wednesday October 12.

Their interrogation was in relation to an investigation into a $7 million loan made by the bank to the consortium HPC-Contratas-P&V for the construction of the Amador convention center in 2012.

Francolini and Arosemena were taken by police to the prosecutor’s office in the  morning. After several hours of questioning, both men were ordered detained.

Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Tania Sterling confirmed that the investigation was prompted by an October 2015 article in La Prensa which reported irregularities in the loan.

Francolini entered the prosecutor’s office at about 10 a. m. escorted by police officers who drove him from his residence in Costa del Este.