Two Martinelli era stars nearing trial date

TWO MORE high ranking officials of the Ricardo Martinelli  government  are nearing the date of their trial in an affair linked to major bribery allegations.

The third anti-corruption prosecutor has requested  a summons to court for the former Minister of Public Security Jose Raul Mulino and former Secretary of the National Security Council Alexander Garuz, over  the alleged irregularities in the contract for installation and use of  19 radars acquired from Selex, a  subsidiary of the Italian conglomerate, Finmeccanica.

The request  was sent on Friday  Jan. 22 to  the Ninth Criminal Court, which will be responsible for assessing the file and setting  a date for the preliminary hearing.

Mulino is in  custody at the headquarters of the Directorate of Judicial Investigation (DIJ), while prosecutor  Zuleyka Moore has allowed Garuz, who is related to Martinelli by marriage, to remain in  hospital detention.

Garuz is also facing trial for his alleged  role in the Martinelli wiretapping scandal.

The two are credited with the alleged crime of embezzlement, to the detriment of the Ministry of Public Security.

Nineteen  radars were purchased from Selex, at a cost of $125 million, to supposedly combat drug trafficking. The government of President Juan Carlos Varela demanded the annulment of the agreement, arguing that the signatories had misused their powers, while  the radars were unable to detect boats used by rrug traffickers traffickers to move drugs.

The government also demanded the annulment of the contract with Westland  Agusta, another Finmeccanica company, from which Panama acquired six helicopters..

At the time of the agreement many pointed out that they were at inflated prices and there were accusations of massive bribery to government officials ,and there are currently  ongoing related corruption trials in Italy.