Italy bribery scandal casts shadow over Panama

Italian prosecutors are ready to exchange information with Panama’s Attorney General on the alleged payment of bribes to high ranking Panamanian officials by Valter Lavitola.

Lavítola, an Italian businessman, allegedly paid bribes to public servants in Panama while negotiating the construction of modular prisons in the country, a deal which ultimately fell through.

Public Ministry sources, told La Prensa  that the AG, Jose Ayu Prado, received confirmation of acceptance of assistance after meeting with prosecutors in Naples,  Francesco Curcio and Henry Woodcock, and the assistant prosecutor Francesco Greco.

Ayu Prado was in Italy between July 9 and 13 and  also met with officials from the Ministry of Justice in Rome, with whom he discussed the signing of treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance.

Among the authorities he met were  the director of the Office of Judicial Cooperation and Criminal JusticeMaria Ciriaco and the  Director  of the Italian Ministry of Justice, Luigi Frunzio, respectively. In Naples  he met with his counterpart, Giovanni Colangelo.

According to sources, the Italian authorities informed Ayu Prado that three months after  he filed the request for judicial assistance, it has not yet  been completed.

The MP has alsonot received a response for  legal assistance requested in April from Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, relating to  bank accounts from which suspected funds were handled for the alleged payment of bribes in the failed negotiations between the Ministry of Government and Svemark Italian consortium, represented in Panama by Mauro Velocci.

Velocci is a key witness for the Naples prosecutors in the trial of his former partner Lavítola Valter, who was  also a key player in negotiating $250 million sales between Panama and Finmeccanica.

Copies of emails delivered by Velocci to the former presidential candidate Balbina Herrera show  the alleged closeness between Lavítola and President Ricardo Martinelli, who, when asked about the case, said he knew him through the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, promoter of the contracts between Panama and Finmeccanica.

In his sworn statement to the prosecutor of Naples, Mauro Velocci said before, the signing of an agreement between Svemark and Panama for the construction of modular prisons at least $670,000 was diverted to pay bribes to Panamanian officials.  

Earlier this month, a court of Naples decided to keep Lavítola  in prison pending trial for the crime of international corruptiondescribeed  as "a plan with high foreign characters available [and] capable of handling millions of dollars in your favor."

The judges noted: " Lavítola’s capacity to handle large sums of money and divert them  abroad is disturbing."

The Neapolitan judges also highlighted the strong relations that kept Lavítola close to  Martinelli, who he  said he became a confident and valued partner.

They argued that Lavítola achieved accreditation from the Panamanian government, "thus settling the bases for their illegal activities."

Velocci will appear as a witness at the trial, believed to be before the end of the year.