Star witness in Martinelli sons Odebrecht bribery probe, detained

A PROMINENT Panama lawyer a key witness in the Odebreht bribery investigation of the two sons of Ricardo Martinelli was arrested on Friday, June 21  and is in provisional detention on the orders of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor.

 Mauricio Cort was arrested  after a search of his offices and  Costa del Este home as part of an investigation into the alleged payment of bribes.hrough the Spanish company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC),

FCC  was awarded the contract of section II of the Corredor-vía Brasil project, a during project awarded in the government of Martinelli (2009-2014) for $174.5 million, but it ended up costing $ 216.2 million.

On Friday morning of yesterday,  Cort was then taken to the Avesa building, headquarters of the prosecutor’s office, in which he was interrogated for several hours. Subsequently, the measure of provisional detention was imposed.

 Odebrecht case
 Cort is a key witness in the case of the Odebrecht bribes. He returned to Panama last November, from Greece. After penalty and collaboration agreements, he gave key information about the payment of alleged bribes to the sons of the former president through the Aeon Group, of the Odebrecht Structured Operations sector.

The  current investigation dates from April 27, 2017 and is based on an audit of thr Corredor Sur-vía Brasil project, by the Comptroller General  which revealed a possible surcharge of $ 41.7 million.

 Cort is accused of f money laundering, while three others are accused of alleged crimes against the public administration, among them, former Public Works Minister Federico José Suárez , who is banned from leaving the country and must report periodically.

In the Odebrecht bribery, case e signed a collaboration agreement and a penalty agreement – the latter for 48 months in prison – both validated by the Twelfth Criminal Court in November.

After the agreements, the sentence was replaced by a 200-day fine, at a rate of $250 per day, for a total of $ 50,000, which he had to pay to the National Treasury i In addition, as part of the agreements, he returned $ 1.6 million and his testimony served the prosecutor’s office to link former Minister Suárez and Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares with the bribes of Odebrecht.