Bingo! prosecutors checking Martinelli son bank accounts

THE FOURTH anti-corruption prosecutor has requested information about bank accounts connected to Ricardo Alberto Martinelli,Linares, and three other  individuals as part of the investigation into the televised bingo program Buko Millonario. 

The contract for the show was awarded July 7, 2011 to the company Grupo de Inversión Mundial, S.A. while Martinelli was in office.

Martinelli Linares, son of former President Ricardo Martinelli, has been linked to San Cristóbal Ltd., which owns 55 percent of the of Grupo de Inversión Mundial.

The request for the account information was made to 28 banks banks on October 23, using an anti-money laundering law.

The other persons involved in the investigation are Omar Chen Chang, Jacqueline Chan de Watson and Egbert Agustín Wright, who are the prinicipals of Grupo de Inversión Mundial.

No charges have been filed in the case.

Luis Eduardo Camacho González, the lawyer for Martinelli Linares, presented a motion on Oct. 27 to prevent the accounts from being accessed.

That motion will be decided by Supreme Court Chief Justice José Ayú Prado, who was appointed by Martinelli, reports La Prensa.

In nine months of operation, Buko Millonario earned a gross income of $12.5 million.