A former high ranking official in the previous administration   will remain behind bars while awaiting trial for alleged money laundering connected to the Odebrecht bribery scandal

The Second Court of Justice upheld the decision of the 12th Criminal Court, which on November 22 of denied the bail to detain Danna Harrick director of the National Council for Sustainable Development (Conades) in the last government (2009-2014), reports La Prensa

Harrick’s defense  argued that she had not fled the country because at the time she was required she was  away for professional reasons  with family and domiciliary ties in Panama

The court noted that "around his departure abroad, it is peculiar that, currently, there is no evidence that in effect guarantees that her absence was due to professional reasons."

The investigations of the prosecutor's office show that the capital of the Odebrecht company was traced back to the accounts of Andrés Mozes, one of the 76 defendants in the case.

According to the inquiries, Mozes received $3 million from Aeon Group Inc. through a company t registered in Andorra. Of these funds, $250,000  thousand were transferred to an account in Switzerland, which corresponds to the Betaj Foundation, registered in the name of Mozes.

Mozes, in his defense, indicated that in 2013, his sister-in-law Harrick -then director of Conades- told him that the opportunity for a construction equipment logistics business had been presented, but because of her position as an official, she could not sign the contract. , asking him to be a signatory, agreeing to his request.

She said that Harrick created the company Ralford Limited, being a signatory for its constitution and bank accounts, to which she never had access, only she was the real owner of the money.

Mozes told the prosecutor's office that due to the assumption of a new government in 2014, his sister-in-law changed jobs and began work in the UBS Bank, deciding to transfer the funds that were in the account so that she could manage her money, thus creating the Betaj Foundation.