Court revokes ‘not guilty’ ruling for ex-governor

The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court revoked a ruling by a trial court of the Second Judicial District (Coclé and Veraguas) that declared the former governor of the province of Coclé, Richard Fifer, not guilty, and ordered a new trial for the alleged crime of illegal withholding of worker-employer contributions from the Social Security Fund (CSS).

According to the Public Ministry’s Twitter account, the decision of the Criminal Chamber occurred as a result of an annulment appeal filed by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

On September 5, 2022, judges Virginia Rodríguez, Florelia Bonilla and Amarelis Sucre found Fifer, not guilty, investigated for the crime of illegal withholding of CSS quotas of more than $6 million through the companies Petaquilla Gold, S.A. and Panamá Desarrollo e Infraestructura, S.A., of which the former governor was the legal representative.

Fifer maintains a sentence of 120 months in prison handed down by the First Settlement Court for Criminal Cases and confirmed by the Superior Settlement Court for the crime of fraud to the detriment of Gold Dragon Capital Management.

The process against the former governor began after a lawsuit filed by representatives of Gold Dragon Capital Management, who alleged that the company entered into a contract with Fifer to invest $100,000 in mining exploration work, in exchange for obtaining 2% of the shares of Petaquilla Mineral, Ltd. and the concessions for the Belencito river, zones 1 and 2, and the Petaquilla river, zones 1, 2 and 3, an agreement that, according to them, was not fulfilled.