Rome Court examining $25 million alleged bribe to Martinelli

VALTER LAVITOLA, the  imprisoned  Italian fixer who moved freely in the higher circles of Panama’s ruling party during the Martinelli Years,  is scheduled to leave his jail cell  this week to appear along with former Finmecccanica Commercial Director Paolo Pozzessere in the Court of Rome for a hearing on charges he helped facilitate the payment of a $25 million bribe by the company to Panama officials.

Prosecutor Paolo Ielo has called Fabbio Sansivieri, a close associate of Lavitola, to testify.
According to the investigation by Italian prosecutors, the bribe was intended for former President Ricardo Martinelli in exchange for the purchase of radars, a digital map and helicopters from the Italian defense consortium. The investigation has sought to determine where the money went, since it has not been deducted from the amount Panama paid, yet has not been accounted for by the company reports La Prensa.
In a hearing in December, Elena Napolitano, head of commercial operations at Finmeccanica, admitted that the Italian conglomerate had to pay a $25 million dollar “commission” to obtain the contract.