The Expert Witness in the Odebrecht Trial Prepared a Report without Reviewing Financial Statements

Expert witness Antonio Lim demonstrated his deficiency in preparing the financial report, a key element used by the prosecution in the Odebrecht case trial to try to prove the alleged money laundering scheme, after being questioned by defense lawyers.  Faced with the barrage of lawyers who questioned him further, Lim was unable to demonstrate that he used optimal techniques to prepare his financial investigation report; he even emphasized that he used only the information in the file and did not even review the financial statements of the companies listed in the document. 

Alfredo Vallarino, Ricardo Martinelli’s defense attorney, exposed the shortcomings of the report as well as the alleged links they are trying to make with the former president.  The expert, meanwhile, acknowledged that he does not have a master’s degree in forensic auditing. He added that the information he was given to prepare his report consisted of copies. He also emphasized that he used open sources available on the internet, such as Google and Facebook, all accessible to the public, to prepare the report. 

Vallarino questioned the expert’s knowledge of the Drousys system, which he described only partially.  “I learned (from the system) the information that was within the file that spoke of the pseudonyms and that it was a means of communication to authorize payments,” the expert said.  Lim reviewed 1900 volumes in total, while the extraction was partial.  The lawyer dismantled the veracity of the witness’s report, question after question. Vallarino challenged him about the delivery of a financial report, when what he had actually been given was a commission to gather information from the media. 

The expert mentioned in his report a group of companies allegedly linked to Odebrecht, but for the purpose of preparing the report, he never saw stock ledgers, documents, certificates, nor any payments made to any of these companies.  Lim did not see the accounting records of Corporación Energía del Istmo, Importadora Ricamar, Caribbean Holding, among others.  The expert also ruled out any actions by former President Ricardo Martinelli in exchange for the donations received in 2009.  Lawyer Guillermina McDonald questioned expert witness Antonio Lim about the information he used to support his assertion that Silver Win Corporation belonged to the Martinelli family. 

During the questioning, McDonald asked the expert to specify the source of this assertion, to which Lim replied that he based it solely on the information contained in the case file at the time of his review.  The lawyer placed particular emphasis on the review of the 1,900 volumes of the case file, specifically volume 766, page 410577, where the certificate of incorporation for Silver Win Corp. is located. This certificate details the authorized capital and the number of shares registered in the name of Navin Bhakta.

However, the expert had indicated that the company belonged to the Martinelli family. In response, McDonald asked him directly if he had considered this specific document in his analysis, to which expert Lim replied, “I did not consider it.”  Today, the defense lawyers will continue their re-examination of the prosecution’s expert witness, given that Judge Baloisa Marquínez extended the hearing from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.