Tax Credits Investigated in Operation Pandora are ‘Improper and Illegitimate’ Acknowledged by the DGI

An internal audit by Panama’s General Directorate of Revenue (DGI) exposed a massive $40+ million corruption network. Officials and private individuals manipulated the E-Tax 2.0 system to erase tax debts and generate fraudulent tax credits, with $36.01 million traced directly to BAC International Bank. The General Directorate of Revenue (DGI) uncovered an illicit scheme in which accounts of taxpayers who had already paid their tax obligations were altered in the E-Tax system. 

• The Modus Operandi: Corrupt internal officials deleted legitimate tax payments from the history, reclassifying the funds as “unapplied payments”. These fabricated credits were then generated and sold to banks and other institutions to cancel their own fiscal obligations. 

• The Acknowledgment: The DGI confirmed that these reallocated credits were “improper and illegitimate,” launching a major internal probe. 

• Operation Pandora: The Specialized Prosecutor’s Office Against Organized Crime launched raids resulting in the initial arrest of 16 individuals, including DGI officials, lawyers, and private financial advisors. 

• BAC International Bank: An audit revealed that out of $42.4 million in tax credits utilized by the bank between 2022 and 2025, exactly $36.01 million were illegitimate, fraudulent creations of this criminal network. 

At the General Directorate of Revenue (DGI), the transfer of tax credits was managed in an “improper and illegitimate” manner by failing to comply with the corresponding review and supervision processes.  An internal audit by the DGI (General Directorate of Revenue) determined that there is no evidence that the transfers were authorized by a reasoned resolution from the entity’s director, as required by the Tax Procedure Code. Therefore, it concluded that “the transfers applied to the taxpayer Bac International Bank, Inc. are improper and illegitimate.”