Supreme Court Gives the Green Light for Sentencing of Richard Fifer

The Supreme Court of Justice gave the green light for the trial court to issue a ruling in the process being followed against the former governor of Coclé, Richard Fifer, for the illegal withholding of quotas, after rejecting a warning of unconstitutionality filed against article 241 of the Penal Code that regulates sanctions for this type of crimes.  Under the presentation of Judge Ángela Russo, the full Court unanimously rejected the warning of unconstitutionality filed by lawyer Julio Pinzón on behalf of Fifer.

On March 6, judges Teófilo Ortíz, Mario Solís and Elsa Damaris Domínguez decided to suspend the issuance of a verdict in the trial of Fifer, until the Court resolved the warning filed by Pinzón against article 24 of the Penal Code, which establishes the sanctions for the crime of improper withholding of contributions from the Social Security Fund (CSS).  During the trial, which took place in the Accusatory Criminal System of the Province of Coclé, prosecutors Olmedo Gómez and Elvis Coronado requested a conviction against Fifer for the illegal withholding of fees from the end of 2013 to January 2015, through the companies Petaquilla Gold and Panama and Development and Infrastructure, of which he was legal representative.

Fifer is being held in the Tinajitas prison, where he is serving a 120-month prison sentence for the crime of fraud against the company Gold Dragon Management.  The former governor of Coclé was captured last January in Costa Rica, when he tried to enter that country without having complied with the corresponding immigration records.  At the time of his arrest in Costa Rica, Fifer presented a North American passport to avoid being detained, but was handed over by Costa Rican police to officials of the National Border Service.