Ex-tax boss continues embezzlement trial stall

Panama’s former top tax collector Luis Cucalón facing charges of embezzlement, former director of the General Directorate of Revenue, withdrew a penalty agreement when he appeared in court manacled and under tight security on Thursday, Oct.26.

He ha been brought  from his cell in El Renacer prison where he has been detained since the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, declared his health stable.

Prosecutor  Adesio Mojica called for a trial for Cucalón, Cristóbal Salerno and Magaly Ramos. They are accused of embezzlement in the collection of delinquent taxes through the company Cobranzas del Istmo, S.A. (CISA).

This was the resumption of the hearing that was postponed three times by excuses about the state of his health.

Cucalón was under arrest at the high-end Punta Pacifica Hospital from September 7, 2015, until September 12 , 2017, when the court changed the order to  preventive detention and he was taken to El Renacer.

In total, 31 months have elapsed since the initiation of the investigation when a complaint made by the current head of the General Directorate of Revenues, Publio Cortés.

In addition, it has been 20 months since the prosecution’s findings were forwarded to the judicial branch.

Now the judge says he needs 30 days to rule on the prosecution’s request for a  trial hearing.