PANAMA LINKED TO BRIBES BY ITALY

ITALIAN AUTHORITIES LINKS MARTINELLI SONS TO LAVITOLA

Thursday June 07, 2012 - Contributed by Kenneth Rijock 

Lavítola

Italian law enforcement authorities have reported that they have uncovered, and frozen, a joint bank account of the arrested accused corrupter, Valter Lavítola, and the sons of Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli. Both Luis Enrique and Roberto Martinelli, the president's sons, have reportedly been implicated by Lavítola in a massive corruption scandal involving a government-owned corporation that allegedly paid bribes to obtain a contracts with the Government of Panama.

Panama's Vice President, Juan Carlos Varela, has called upon President Martinelli to resign.

Vice President Varela

Legal analysts and Panama watchers, who are awaiting the issuance of Italian indictments against President Martinelli and his sons, are wondering aloud whether the Panamanian president will thereafter choose to remain close to home, and defer his regular  trips abroad, knowing that his own government will decline to extradite him. Criminal charges against Martinelli could precipitate a political crisis in the Republic of Panama.

 

When this corruption scandal will end is anybody's guess, but it could unfortunately serve to raise country risk for Panama.
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For further reading:
Indictment of Panamanian President in Italy appears imminent