Mizrachi asylum plea rejected
PANAMA PLAYBOY, fugitive suspected embezzler, and Ricardo Martinelli relative, Mayer Mizrachi, who has been thumbing his nose at Panamanian authorities from what he thought was a Colombian safe haven, may be running out of bolt holes.
The Colombian government has rejected his application for political asylum made after his bizarre exit from prison which led to charges against the prison’s Director. He avoided immigration officers waiting to put him on a plane to Panama where he faces trial, and headed with a lawyer to a Bogota hotel, meanwhile flashing pictures of himself on Twitter.
After that incident He was given five days to seek asylum. With its rejection the relative of former Panama president Ricardo Martinelli has been given another five days grace to appeal , but cannot leave Bogota according to Panama Foreign Ministry sources.
Mizrachi had requested asylum using the mantra of his relative, Martinelli: “political persecution in his country” where he is accused of embezzlement..
The former high roller was released from La Picota prison,on June 22 where had been held since December 2015 following his arrest at Cartegena airport after disembarking from a plane arriving from Fort Lauderdale.
He was released after a controversial Panama court decision, lifting the red alert and was to have been handed over to Migration Colombia for expulsion. Instead he drove off with a lawyer leaving immigration officers behind. The court decision canceling the red alert said he posed no flight risk.
This scenario led authorities to suspend on June 30, the prison system’s deputy Director of Safety, Fabio Becerra, who was also serving as acting Director of La Picota prison.
Another twist to the cat and mouse story came on Wednesday. July 7 when Mizrachi’s lawyer suggested he might head for Jamaica where he has citizenship.
Mizrachi’s father Aaron, brother in law of Martinelli, has also skipped Panama. He left the country in August last year after publication of stories linking him to offshore companies used to funnel money for spying equipment purchased from Israel. He fled on Martinelli’s private jet.
