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martinelli arrested in Florida

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augieman
  6/13/2017 09:07 EST

Apparently arrest based on charges of political espionage leveled by Varela Muy interesante!!

panamajames
  6/13/2017 22:13 EST

Martinelli, who was arrested outside his home in Coral Gables, Florida, will remain in prison pending the decision of the judge. Ricardo Martinelli, shackled hand and foot, wearing a cream colored uniform as worn by federal prisoners, was presented today for the first time before the justice of the United States, where the request for extradition by Panamanian authorities was analyzed.
At a hearing that lasted fifteen minutes and at the same center that Manuel Antonio Noriega, Panama's former dictator was detained, Judge Edwin Torres conducted proceedings in English at the Federal Court of Miami, United States, and denied the request for bail that was presented by his defense team.
Torres refused to accept a defense request that he filed a bail package that went up to $ 1 million.
The judge was reported to have held that in Panama, and to Martinelli, he had refused to appear at a hearing before the Supreme Court of Justice that declared him a "defendant in absentia." For this reason, the judge would have evaluated the possibility of Martinelli escaping was high.
Martinelli's defense asked the judge to consider Martinelli's state of health and his age, at 65, as well as his status as former President of the Republic of Panama, to be kept in a separate cell, which was not endorsed by the judge.
Judge Torres, at the request of the ex Panamanian’s defense, undertook to guarantee the conditions so that the health of the former President was not affected during his stay in the Miami Detention Center.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Sidney Sitton, one of the Panamanian defenders who was present at the hearing, insisted that the extradition request is the product of "revenge" by the current President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela, who was Martinelli's Vice President.
While the next hearing will take place next week, on Tuesday, June 20, Martinelli will have to remain in prison and will only be able to receive visits from his lawyers.
Judge Torres will take until Tuesday to assess the possibility of granting bail, during which time the former President will have to remain in the Miami Federal Detention Center.

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RICOBREEZE802MARK
  6/18/2017 19:56 EST

WOW bail? hummm I would say nay. he is worth billions. and he would be gone in a flash. the u.s. needs to obey the law and place him on the first jet back to panama. what ever he has done or has not done would be up to them here to prove. I love it when people of power and wealth are out skiing, and eating out and dancing and as soon as they are put in jail,, o lord they are in bad health they need care 24 7 they are on deaths door.. just like cosby, they brought him in, and he needed two people to hold on to him, with his cane, and they were stating he was half blind, looking like he had not shaved in a week. then today walks out alone, looking great in his suit. heading home.

panamajames
  6/29/2017 00:54 EST

Former President Ricardo Martinelli is awaiting Judge Edwin Torres' decision on the $ 7 million bail request filed by his defense last Tuesday.

Yesterday was a week of the second hearing of Martinelli. At the hearing on June 20, Judge Torres had announced that within one to two weeks he would have a decision in which he would be released on bail or detained.

Today Martinelli turns 16 days of being detained in the federal prison of Miami, the United States.

The former president has pending the resolution of an application for asylum in the United States that he filed in 2015.

He is accused of at least six counts of crimes committed during his term of office (2009-2014) and there is an arrest warrant issued through Interpol to have him arrested and taken to Panama to appear in court.

The court maintains a series of legal proceedings in Panama, the extradition order for which he is prosecuted on this occasion is due to the telephone tapping that occurred during his term in which politicians opposed to his government, journalists, Civil society and even a judge of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) was listened to and recorded.

Ricardo Martinelli left Panama on January 28, 2015 to Guatemala for his first session in the Central American Parliament (Parlacen)

panamajames
  7/13/2017 19:46 EST

If the judge rules that Martinelli must return to Panama to face justice..... expulsion is not automatic. The US President Trump (a good friend and associate) and his secretary of state have the last word. If they consider that it is not desirable for reasons of 'security nacional'-, then they can overrule the opinion of justice and Martinelli stays in US There is an extradition agreement between the two countries since 1904. Read More......................... http://laestrella.com.pa/opinion/columnistas/alternativas-martinelli/24012531

panamajames
  7/28/2017 01:54 EST

The U.S. Supreme Court has just received a request from Panamanian former President Ricardo Martinelli, who demands that he be released immediately and not extradite him to Panama, a country that claims a case of illegal eavesdropping, for starters, He informed judicial sources today.

The request, formulated as a matter of urgency, was received in the last few hours and was given to Judge Clarence Thomas, named in 1991 by former US President George H.W. Bush and considered one of the most conservative magistrates in the court, the aforementioned sources specified.

The petition, however, will be reviewed by the nine judges with life charges that are part of the U.S. Supreme Court

Martinelli's attorneys, detained in Florida since 12 June, the Supreme Court judges were asked to order the holding of a hearing to assess the legality of the conditions of detention and imprisonment of the former president , a legal procedure known as "Habeas Corpus".

They also demand that the process of extradition that Martinelli faces in the court of the South District of Florida is stopped, as shown in the request of the lawyers, to which he agreed.

The Government of Panama claims Martinelli to judge him for a case of illegal eavesdropping during his government (2009-2014) and of which more than 150 people were victims, including opponents, businessmen and journalists.

In his request, Martinelli's lawyers claim that there is no risk of flight and that, therefore, their client must be released immediately, contrary to what he has defended during the process the Government of Panama, represented by the U.S. Attorney

Judge Edwin Torres, of the Court of the South District of Florida , in Miami, has twice denied bail for Martinelli alluding precisely to the risk of escape.

The lawyers propose that the ex-president's wife, Marta Linares de Martinelli, give the Florida judge a bail of $500,000 and the ex-president is held in his mansion in Miami, under strict conditions of vigilance and restrictions so that he can not travel in boats or airplanes.

These conditions "eliminate any risk of flight risk," the lawyers say in their request.

Martinelli arrived in 2015 to Miami after his whereabouts remained unknown for several months after leaving Panamá January 28, 2015, the same day that the Panamanian supreme court opened the first of the criminal cases against him.

The former president asserts that he suffers political persecution by the current government of Juan Carlos Varela, who was his vice-president.

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panamajames
  8/3/2017 18:25 EST

An hour and fifteen minutes late, the Martinelli hearing was started today to decide whether or not to extradite former President Ricardo Martinelli, and concluded with a call for a decision date on August 22.

During the process, the judge heard the arguments of the two parties, which he described as well supported. Martinelli has the full support of the Mayor of Miami.

Defense attorneys took advantage of the hearing to request the transfer of Martinelli to the Federal Center of Miami, where they say they will be able to better serve their client, although the judge did not make any decisions about it.

In today's audience, both the defense and the prosecutor's office, representing the Panamanian application, discussed the application of the bilateral extradition treaty, and the cyber crime, which was typified by both countries since 2014.

The delay in the start of the hearing occurred because the former President did not show up at the agreed time, despite being held in a center a few meters from the Miami court, where the arraignment was held.

Judge Edwin Torres asked for more time to document the validity of the application of the Convention that is in force between the two countries on cyber crimes, on which most of the discussion was based in this hearing.

Judge Edwin Torres, who has denied Martinelli's request for bail on two occasions, should determine on this occasion whether or not his extradition to Panama is feasible, to face justice for the cases he has pending. President Trump can override the Judges decision.

Ricardo Martinelli, who was President of the Republic of Panama during the period (2009-2014), has been detained since 12 June at the federal detention Centre in Miami.

panamajames
  8/24/2017 11:19 EST

EX-Panama President Ricardo Martinelli returned to his cell in a Miami Detention center on Wednesday August 23rd after a final court hearing lasting a little over an hour before US Federal Judge Edwin Torres to determine whether he will be extradited to Panama or remain in the USA to continue his attempt at gaining political asylum.

He, and the citizens of Panama will have to wait until Thursday August 31 for the judge’s ruling.

He appeared in court manacled and wearing prison uniform, and gestured to supporters.

If extradited and convicted of illegal wiretapping and embezzlement, Martinelli could face a jail term of up to 20 years with a dozen other potential corruption charges involving scores of millions of dollars waiting in the wings.

He has been in detention since his arrest near his $8.2 million Coral Gable mansion on June 12.

The postponement of Judge Torres’s decision is due to the lack of an English translation of an affidavit of Panama attorney Roberto Moreno, who acts as a defense expert. Moreno’s statement was introduced the night before the hearing.
Martinelli’s defense has until the beginning of next week to deliver the translated affidavit.

If the judge decides that Martinelli should be extradited, it could be months before he is transported to Panama during which time he would remain in custody.

llseldon
  8/24/2017 12:31 EST

Varela will be next when he leaves office, wonder if he will hide out in Miami?

llseldon
  8/24/2017 12:31 EST

Varela will be next when he leaves office, wonder if he will hide out in Miami?

llseldon
  8/24/2017 12:31 EST

Varela will be next when he leaves office, wonder if he will hide out in Miami?

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llseldon
  8/24/2017 12:31 EST

Varela will be next when he leaves office, wonder if he will hide out in Miami?

panamajames
  8/24/2017 18:26 EST

Ricardo Martinelli and Felipe Virzi have a lot in common. They are entrepreneurs of veragüense origin, have occupied the highest positions of the Executive Body, are friends, partners and concuñados and as of yesterday they share another coincidence: both are in prison.
Martinelli, president of the Republic (2009-2014), has been detained at the Miami Federal Detention Center since June 12, while Virzi, who was vice president (1994-1999), was detained yesterday in El Renacer, a prison of ' High profile 'located on the shores of the Panama Canal. That is the prison where Manuel Antonio Noriega was held until his recent death. Both share investments and in the past, the government benefited from several projects that were executed with Panamanian state funds and are now questioned and investigated.
The businessman whom his friends call 'Pipo' and whom even the ex-magistrate Alejandro Moncada Luna, also arrested in El Renacer, called 'El Tio Pipo', is investigated for the alleged diversion of funds from the Caja de Ahorros Bank in favor of HPC-Contratas-P & V consortium, which ended up at Financial Pacific, before liquidation proceedings were announced in August 2014.
The company HPC-Contratas - P & V was in charge of the construction of the new Amador Convention Center project, at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal. That convention centre is currently now getting underway, as is a convention centre slated for Boquete where the digging has just begun.
As of now, the Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating another seven people for alleged money laundering.
'Pipo' Virzi, a member of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, is also being investigated for the case of Cobranzas del Istmo, for which he was detained for several days and then benefited with a house arrest after paying a million dollar bail.
In the present case, Virzi has been detained since last Thursday 17 August. He remained in a cell of the Directorate of Judicial Investigation in Ancón and yesterday was taken to El Renacer.
Twelve million dollars was the amount that the Superintendence of the Stock Market detected in 2012 as missing from the house of securities known as Financial Pacific. Martinelli, according to testimony in the file, would have asked two of his friends, Felipe Virzi and Cristóbal Salerno, to reconcile the accounts in the securities office and avoid the intervention of the regulator, and then sell them.
The money that Virzi contributed triangulated through a company account Summer Venture in the now defunct Universal Bank (which signed Virzi) for $ 7 million....................
Although Martinelli is in Miami and Virzi in El Renacer, the two are in a cell waiting for the judicial authorities to define their future.

panamajames
  9/3/2017 18:59 EST

"THE COURT FOUND THAT MARTINELLI IS EXTRADITABLE FOR FOUR ALLEGED CRIMES UNDER THE US TREATY. AND PANAMA ON THE EXTRADITION OF CRIMINALS',

Judge Edwin Torres of the Southern District Court of Florida virtually dismissed the arguments of the defense of former President Ricardo Martinelli and granted the Government of Panama the extradition of the defendant.
In a 93-page ruling, the judge conducted a thorough analysis of the arguments put forward by both parties. In this regard, he considered, for example, the general principles of delivery and the role of the Court in this process. A limited issue, which gives the Executive the power to decide whether or not to give the accused to the country that requested the assignment, in this case Panama.
The Secretary of State will conduct an independent review of the case to determine whether to issue a delivery order.
The law gives you wide discretion and may consider appropriate a look at the factors affecting the defendant as well as the international relationships that may be affected by your decision.
Torres stated that an extradition certification is usually based on authenticated documentation provided by the requesting government.
One of the main objectives of the statute of the complaint is to avoid the need to avoid the confrontation of the accused with the witnesses against him, trying that the country requesting the extradition provides genuine documents that are submitted to the necessary requirements to guarantee their authenticity. So the defendant's opportunity to challenge the evidence against him at an extradition hearing is limited. In other words, a testimony (such as that of Ismael Pittí, who challenged Martinelli's defense so that the Court would annul it as evidence) only gives the opposite version of the facts, but does not destroy the probable culpability, therefore it is inadmissible. They are not considered in depth at an extradition hearing, notes the document.
While Martinelli's defense hammered prosecutor Harry Diaz for accusing and not imputed to his client, Torres said it is not the United States' role to comment or interpret the law of a foreign country and let the issue be debated internally, without getting his hands on it.
Regarding the defense's arguments about the lack of jurisdiction of the arrest warrant, the judge indicated that Martinelli's arguments lack merit because they unduly contest the claim that Panama had jurisdiction to issue the arrest warrant, and any argument contrary to the lack of an imputation are duly decided by a Panamanian court.
Nor did it validate the voice of the defense that claimed that the charges for embezzlement were dismissed.
Torres considered that the treaty provides the bases to find the embezzlement of funds against the ex-president, because in addition to being a crime of double incrimination, considered that it should not be based solely on the language of the treaty, that establishes that the embezzlement is greater to $ 200, and should not be limited to money but can be applied to a property, such as softwares or equipment used to spy.
WHAT DID THE JUDGE EVALUATE?
To find extradition aspects, the Court generally considers four factors: whether the judicial officer has authority to carry out the procedure; if the extradition treaty is valid; if the offense for which the accused is charged is extraditable under the treaty signed by both parties and if there is probable cause to believe that the accused is guilty of the pending prosecution against him. In making this determination, the courts do not weigh the contradictory evidence, but only determine whether there is competent evidence to support the conviction that the accused has committed the alleged crime.
In all of the above, the judge inclined the balance in favor of the extradition. He reviewed that the crimes are extraditable within the bilateral treaty, despite the fact that Martinelli's defense alleged that he should deny surrender for the crime of illegal surveillance, for the non-retroactivity factor, according to them, was committed before Panama acceded to the Budapest Convention that typifies the crime.
A point in which it was argued to the comma separating the sentence that stipulates the date of entry into force of the agreement, but that the State Department does not seem to give the importance that the defense argued, a position that the Court endorsed with several examples in which the United States has requested defendants who committed crimes after the entry into force of several agreements to which the surrendering country acceded.
Retroactivity was one of the most extensive analyzes of Judge Edwin Torres.
He expressed the position of both parties, but he resorted to the Government's recommendation, which urged the Court to postpone the interpretation on the implementation or not of retroactivity since it could be the Executive's power. In fact, the judge cites in his ruling that the Department of State pays very little attention to this point, since it has submitted requests for extradition to Panama, which it granted on the basis of the United Nations Convention Against Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs in the case of an accused drug trafficker that had committed crimes before Panama was part of that agreement.
This opinion on retroactivity is also shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the department that is responsible for negotiating and implementing these treaties.
The Government's final argument is that, while non-retroactivity may be ambiguous, the court should follow the general extradition statement that requires treaties to be interpreted liberally in favor of surrender.

volcan357
  9/3/2017 20:13 EST

That is a shame. Martinelli signed my letter of naturalisation which was the final requirement for me to become a Panamanian citizen. Panama saw a lot of positive changes under Martinelli. The president we have now doesn't seem to be able to accomplish as much by comparison.

panamajames
  9/3/2017 20:30 EST

I was in Panama City last week on banking business and spoke to a number of elderly political people about what was going on in politics these days. No one is impressed with Varela's performance as President versus what Martinelli did for our country, despite the theft. It seems that all the political parties in the past, took their turns at the trough and got rich on the backs of the hard working peoples of Panama. Nobody minded it seemed as they all took a turn in power and they all stole like the majority of politicians will. This is a turnaround in Panama politics. Varela is persecuting Martinelli for perhaps excessive feeding at the trough. It would appear that Varela is spending all of his energies in that arena and not doing enough for Panama. His party will not get re-elected. They say that the day will come for Varela once he is out of power and they may go after him. Trying to stop all political crimes in Government is honorable, but it is like starting a war with the mafia. You had better be prepared. Martinelli is far from finished at his end. He will be doing appeals all the way up the ladder until he can no longer appeal and by then, Varela will be out of power and perhaps people will forget, and maybe want Martinelli back as the Mayor of Panama City, and eventually President once more. He is now preparing for his Florida fight and appeal..............................This from the Star........................"The legal defense of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli is prepared for a "long" judicial battle in the United States, after a federal judge in Panama considered that the extradition request filed by Panama "meets all requirements."

In a 93-page ruling, Judge Edwin Torres gave the reason to the Prosecutor's Office, which in this case represents Panama, which seeks the extradition of Martinelli where he is required for alleged offenses of embezzlement and illegal wiretapping.

The decision, which holds the former president in a federal detention center in Miami, forces the defense to a way of appeals and appeals in higher courts to try to avoid extradition, Efe told people around him.

"After the careful consideration of the file, the evidence presented for the extradition hearings, together with the oral arguments, the motion of the Government is granted," says the judge in his pronouncement, which was released electronically through an access system and without citing the parties to a hearing.

"There is sufficient evidence to establish probable cause for all charges brought against (former) President Martinelli," and that the finding entails "reasonable grounds to hold him guilty of all or some of the crimes charged."

"It seems to us wrong, but we say that we trust in the rule of law that exists and characterizes US democracy and does not exist in Panama," the spokesman of the former president, Luis Eduardo Camacho, told Efe. Judge Torres.

He added that the Panamanian ex-president is prepared, "mentally and physically," for "a long process" and that this is determined in his decision to "make the legal fight in the United States."

The spokesman said that the defense has two superior courts, one possibly the 11th Appeals Court, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and, if they fail to reach a favorable decision, they appeal to the State Department , which has the last word in this process.

"I can not advance the legal strategy, at the time it will be known," Camacho said, adding that the lawyers will pose, however, that the exmandatario can continue the legal battle on bail, which has already been rejected in more than one occasion since he was arrested on 12 June.

Martinelli is required in his country for embezzlement (misappropriation of public funds), for the alleged purchase of surveillance systems and illegal wiretapping of 150 people, between opponents, journalists and businessmen, between 2012 and early 2014.

In his letter, Judge Torres overturned the main pillars of the defense, one of which was the need for a "probable cause", that is, due process established in the Extradition Treaty between the United States and Panama, signed in 1904.

However, Camacho insisted, "there is no evidence, neither testimonial nor documentary, in the file that was sent from Panama" to support the charges against the former president.

In addition, the judge dismissed the argument that the "retroactivity" of crimes was not covered in the same treaty and did not include cyber crimes.

Although the crime of "illegal interception of communications" is not included in the extradition treaty, it is part of the "Budapest Convention" on cybercrime signed in 2004 and to which Panama acceded in July 2014, when alleged listeners had already occurred, said Camacho.

The other third pillar rejected in the judicial document was that the former president is a "persecuted politician" of the current Panamanian leader, Juan Carlos Varela, who was his chancellor and vice president.

Martinelli arrived in Miami in 2015 after having resided in an unknown whereabouts for several months after leaving Panama on January 28, 2015, the same day that the Panamanian Supreme Court opened the first criminal case against him.

The former president has raised since that year an application for asylum, still unanswered, in which he claims that he is a political persecuted.

stgibson
  9/4/2017 11:37 EST

Good article and to the point. This is nothing new in Central America. It is an accepted fact that when one takes power at the end of the term opposing parties will go after you. I can't think of a single president is the last 100 years in Central America that hasn't gone through this process. I think you are correct that Martinelli will return and either he or his wife will re enter politics. His crimes or accusations of crimes will be forgotten, after all he did accomplish more for this country in his term than any president in the last 100 years. It is a shame that politics work this way here as it slows progress but sometimes progress to quickly is as bad or worse. Panamanians seem to do just fine with slow and steady progress and maybe this is the way it should be.

panamajames
  9/4/2017 12:11 EST

MARTINELLI'S LAWYER ASKS FOR 30 DAYS TO FILE HABEUS ON EXTRADITION


Counsel for former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, whose extradition was ordered by a Federal Magistrate Judge has requested a Stay of Certification of his extraditability, or alternatively, an order staying his Surrender for thirty days, if the Certificate was already issued.

Defense counsels' motion recited that they needed the time to seek review of the Final Order, via a Petition for a Writ of Habeus Corpus, a collateral attack on the order.

panamajames
  9/4/2017 12:39 EST

For those lawyer wannabe's among us who wish to review the complete text of the 93-page Final Order on the Government's Motion for a Certificate to Extradite Martinelli to Panama, entered on August 31, 2017, you may access the document here and fortunately for us because it took place in Florida, it is in English. Right click, copy and save as, and it is yours. Find that PDF file here from TVN : https://www.tvn-2.com/2017/08/31/decision_final_martinelli.pdf?hash=efbefd0d6ea3fdaa4cd1d0e20f46b1cf19109693

llseldon
  9/4/2017 14:13 EST

Varela will next when he leaves office, back in the '50s they use to assinate the president at the race track while they were in office LOL.

volcan357
  9/4/2017 14:47 EST

Arresting the ex-president doesn't exactly seem to be the right thing to do. I mean to a certain extent the ex-president represents the opposition. In a democracy you have to have a healthy opposition or it is not a democracy.

panamajames
  9/4/2017 15:03 EST

If the ex-President was a thief and a scoundrel, and it can be proven, then it might be exactly the right thing to do to keep that same thing from repeating itself over and over. The reason that Presidents in Panama cannot run for a second 4 year term, is because of Manuel Antonio Noriega who took control of Panama militarily and politically for up to 8 years. 4 years is all the time you get and then it is time for the next President to take power. It's democracy at it's finest or maybe just at it's closest.

dunnee
  9/5/2017 17:48 EST

So far all 'we the people' know is like Bush he entered a multi millionaire and exited a billionaire.
This is harsh for a small, healthy country in 'the America's'.
So would YOU scurry if the scam went south. Do not forget he ran like it, as all scabs do when found out.
All the best for now.

panamajames
  9/7/2017 12:50 EST

Above I mentioned 4 year terms in Panama for Presidents. It is 5 years. 4 years is in Costa Rica and many other places. For example, Ricardo Martinelli served from 2009 to 2014. More news on Mr. Martinelli below: The defense representing former president of Panama Ricardo Martinelli has filed a request a few days ago before the South Florida District Court to make a 30-day extension to the final order and certification of Martinelli’s extradition. The attorneys intend with this request to prepare and file a writ of hábeas corpus in favor of the former president.

Marcos Jiménez, one of Martinelli's defense attorneys and who tabled the motion, said that this appeal was filed "in good faith and is not intended to cause unnecessary delays".

The motion is based on precedents provided in 1989 and 2005, when a court allowed the suspension of the certification of extradition to persons who were in a similar situation, after establishing that "the defendant has the right to collaterally attack this order (the extradition order) with a hábeas corpus procedure ".

Edwin Torres, the Miami federal court judge, would have deemed applicable the extradition of Martinelli, who is required in his country for alleged offenses of embezzlement and illegal wiretapping. On previous occasions the businessman also stated that he will exhaust "all legal resources" from the United States and not from Panama.

Prior to hearing the ruling, Luis Eduardo Camacho, spokesman for the former president, reiterated his confidence that Judge Torres would rule in favor of Martinelli, citing the Extradition Treaty of 1904 signed with the United States, in which, if there is no probable cause, extradition cannot be applicable.

However, after the sentence, Camacho said that there were still several remedies, including hábeas corpus and bail, appeals that have been denied twice by the Miami Court and dismissed by an Atlanta magistrate.

The spokesman added that they still have to go to two higher courts, including possibly the 11th Appeal Court, based in Atlanta, or even consider filing an appeal before the State Department, which would have the last word in this case.

panamajames
  9/7/2017 21:15 EST

It's not only Martinelli that Varela is after, but every minister who was involved in these bribes and theft of money from the people of Panama.......Charges of Money Laundering are running rampant.........: LUIS CUCALÓN, the notorious director general of Revenues in the administration of Ricardo Martinelli, is being prosecuted for the alleged commission of crimes such as money laundering, capital embezzlement and abuse of authority. However, thanks to legal tricks – and maybe with some help from lawyers, court officials and even doctors – he has not only postponed two hearings – and trying for the third – but has changed the melancholic cells of El Renacer Prison, in Gamboa, for the comfortable and air conditioned beds of a private hospital in the center of the capital..................................
Jimmy Papadimitriu a former Minister of the presidency during the Ricardo Martinelli regime, showed up at the Avesa building on Via Espana to find out why his mother María Bagatelas de Papadimitriu, had been summoned to the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
She is one of a long line of prominent citizens, including former cabinet ministers who are being interrogated for alleged links to corruption and bribery following the announcement about 15 investigations by the Attorney General’s team of prosecutors.
Many are linked to the receipt in Panama of Brazilian court testimonies identifying alleged players in the Odebrecht bribery scandal, involving scores of millions of dollars.
Speaking to the media, a thinned down Papadimitriu said he hoped to “evaluate the file “in which his mother is involved in some way.
He confirmed that two of the family companies were searched. During the raid officials took some USB’s and “some other things,” he said.
“I am here voluntarily, as my mother has been mentioned in one of the cases … I am coming to see what it is, since I do not want my mother nor any of my relatives to be harmed,” said the ex-official, accompanied by his legal team.
Papadimitriu insisted that he was willing to cooperate with the Public Ministry. Another minister of the last government who arrived at the prosecutor’s office investigating the payment of bribes was former Public Works Minister Jaime Ford who is the focus of several probes...........................................................................

Two more ministers of the Ricardo Martinelli era got their introductions to prison cells on Wednesday, September 6, charged with money laundering after questioning linked to the Odebrecht bribery scandal.
Demetrio Jimmy Papadimitriu (Presidency) and Jaime Ford (Public Works) were ordered detained by the Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor’s Office, after being submitted to over 12 hours of interrogation.
The inquiries and arrests of the ministers are part of the investigations into bribes handed out by Odebrecht in Panama.
Luiz Eduardo Soares, a member of the Odebrecht [Bribery] Operations sector revealed in Brazil that he paid bribes to Ford. Miguel Batista, a lawyer for Ford, said the prosecutor has charged his client with money laundering. He denied the charges and said that he will bring the relevant remedies to revoke the arrest. He said that his client stripped himself of the electoral privilege he has as a candidate in the internal elections of the Democratic Change (CD) Party.
In Papadimitriu’s case, Luiz Antonio Mameri, responsible for paying bribes for Odebrecht, declared in Brazil that he gave $4 million to the minister of the Presidency in the last government.
Nicolás Brea, lawyer for Papadimitriu, confirmed Papadimitriu’s arrest for alleged laundering of capital. He said that the measure is unfair, and they would demonstrate that the ex-official did not receive Odebrecht bribes.
He explained that the former minister presented himself to the prosecution to avoid the arrest and investigation of his mother, Maria Bagatelles, also wanted by the prosecution as part of this process.
Papadimitriu told reporters, when he arrived at the prosecutor’s office: “I am here voluntarily, my mother [Mary Bagatelles de Papadimitriu] has been cited in one of the cases. I am appearing to see what it is, since I do not want it to be harmful to my Mom or any of my relatives.” His parents apparently had $10M in bank accounts linked to Odebrecht.

augieman
  9/8/2017 08:30 EST

@panamaJames
I would have thought you were a journalist wannabee

WMBGamboa
  9/8/2017 12:14 EST

volcan357 stated: "Panama saw a lot of positive changes under Martinelli. The president we have now doesn't seem to be able to accomplish as much by comparison."

I agree that "Panama saw a lot of positive changes under Martinelli.” But Panamá also didn’t see a host of detrimental things that occurred under him: projects that were funded but never completed (e.g., Ciudad de Salud et al.), others that were funded but not even started, although the funds for them were dispersed and disappeared. The exposure of those corruptions and restitution of some of bribery funds from the Odebrecht scandali are accomplishments that Varela can claim.

Varela was chosen by the electorate in large part for his focus on eliminating governmental corruption, a truly Sisyphian undertaking. That focus appears both justified and wise, given the rampant corruption thus far exposed, the continuing harm to Panamá that corruption caused and causes, and the number of highly-placed, corrupt individuals so far implicated and incarcerated, . Unfortunately, this focus is less glitzy than an infrastructural focus and the progress that has been and is being made is much more difficult to demonstrate. Anticorruption progress is represented by legal battles. Those can only be learned about in the media; there are no visible physical manifestations, such as bulldozers, backhoes, teams of workers, new roads or concrete structures. And unlike an infrastructural program, the opposition to which ends at adoption, the opposition to an anticorruption program continues throughout the procedure until and unless the program aims are achieved. For those who read and listen, the anticorruption program is progressing despite the well-funded and very powerful opposition of forces from both inside and outside the government.

There have been accomplishments on this difficult undertaking and even infrastructural progress (e.g., metro extensions, Cd. Salad restart). If, at the end of Varela’s term, some of the aims of the anticorruption program are met, he will have accomplished a great deal.

panamajames
  9/9/2017 01:56 EST

Thanks augieman. You started off a great story that had legs. I did journalism on radio and TV for 20 years including freelance work for CBC and BBC. I covered the Invasion of Panama story in 1989/90 when they took out Noriega. Became an IBM techie in the early computer years which took me into banking. I had always wondered why so many North American people were sending money to Panama and Switzerland, and I found out why. So I moved here. My wife and I did a radio show for 2 years called Boquete Chatter on the Overseas Radio Network, and I have a studio here where I still do some freelance recording like the Noriega passing. I also do some commercials for local businesses like Panama Red Rum. It's great fun and I still like to find a good story like yours that you started with this heading, that I know could probably make a great movie. John Goodman as Martinelli........we could probably create a whole cast of interesting characters..........Cheers............PJ

panamajames
  9/9/2017 15:34 EST

José Domingo Arias, the presidential candidate for Cambio Democrático, Martinelli’s political party, who was provisionally detained for a week for the Odebrecht case, was just transferred to the prison of El Renacer, where Noriega spent his final years, according to local media.
Arias, who was the presidential candidate of the Democratic Change party in the 2014 elections, was detained last August 29 at the airport when he was about to leave the country without notifying the Public Prosecutor's Office and since then was in the dungeons of the Directorate of Judicial Investigation (DIJ), in the capital.
The Panamanian Prosecutor's Office is investigating him for allegedly receiving money from Odebrecht for his political campaign in the 2014 elections. The current President Juan Carlos Varela, won that election and has been going after Martinelli and his politicos with a vengeance. It was considered by most, that José Domingo Arias was just going to be a puppet for Martinelli, who had also placed his own wife to run as Vice President of the country, which was obviously an attempt to maintain power for himself. The people of Panama saw through that ploy and believed strongly in Varela and his political promises of less major or mega infrastructure projects and more social programs for the poor.

jonoyakker
  9/9/2017 16:42 EST

Stgibson, sorry but you are wrong. Pursuing prosecution of previous administrations is NOT the custom, at least not here in Panama. Quite the opposite. Varela's actions have no precedent here and to me, they were long overdue. I have followed the issue for the past several years; Martinelli had his hand anywhere he could siphon funds. My bet would be that neither he nor his wife will be returning to political office. And don't forget that all that construction work he ordered did not come out of thin air or magic-it was done on borrowed money. And much of that money went into his pockets or into the pockets of his cronies.

jonoyakker
  9/9/2017 16:56 EST

Also...the OP wrote "Apparently arrest based on charges of political espionage leveled by Varela Muy interesante!!"

Actually, many of the more than 150 of his alleged victims have filed complaints against the ex-president.

panamajames
  9/11/2017 12:35 EST

Eight months after uncovering one of the biggest bribery scandals in Latin America, Panama has its first detainees. In December 2016, it was revealed that the Brazilian construction company Norberto Odebrecht had paid $ 788 million in bribes in twelve countries in the region. Of that total, $ 59 million were paid to Panamanian officials during the administration of Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014). Last week, amid a series of steps, three of four dozen persons indicted were arrested by the prosecution.

panamajames
  10/1/2017 14:05 EST

Martinelli tops Ali Baba with 62 Thieves versus Ali Baba's 40 Thieves.

THE NUMBER of Panama’s former insiders who inhabited the Martinelli era administration and reached into the treasure trove of bribes from the Odebrecht Construction company, has swelled and has become the biggest corruption scandal in the country’s history.
The Special Prosecutor for Anti-Corruption, Zuleika Moore, has charged some 62 people with receiving bribes from Odebrecht. They include ex-Ministers, officials and those euphemistically described as “entrepreneurs” many with close business ties to former president Ricardo Martinelli.
This was revealed to La Prensa by the Public Ministry (MP) in response to a questionnaire.
Prosecutors reported that 36 of the 62 defendants have been investigated with eight of them in pre-trial detention in El Renacer prison, where former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega was held, and one under house arrest.
As part of the investigations, the prosecution has received 52 assists and received six requests for cooperation in Odebrecht bribery processes in other countries.
Since December 2016, when the Public Ministry reopened the Odebrecht case and that company confessed to paying about $59 million in bribes in Panama, 36 people have been questioned as part of 22 related investigations, opened by the Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor’s Office.
In January 2017 the MP reported the first 17 defendants, particularly for the bribes paid to Panamanians through Swiss banks.
In August, the MP reported 43 investigated in all related processes, and Attorney General Kenia Porcell, announced an agreement with Odebrecht giving her access to statements by executives of the company to prosecutors in Brazil. Porcell reported that as part of the agreement, a fine of $220 million was imposed on the construction company.

The majority of the inquiries are of former government officials, bank employees and entrepreneurs. All have denied to the media that they received bribes from Odebrecht.
Among those who have been interrogated and have given statements are: former Public Works (MOP) Minister Federico Suárez and Jaime Ford; the former director of the Social Security Fund (CSS) Guillermo Sáez-Llorens; former head of the Financial Analysis unit Amado Barahona; former Minister of the Presidency Demetrio Papadimitriu ; former Head of MOP Special Projects Carlos Ho González and his wife and stepdaughter; along with Mario Martinelli, brother of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli; businessman Riccardo Francolini, linked to the ex-president and facing other investigations, ; Democratic Change 2014 presidential candidate José Domingo Mimito Arias; local bank employee Humberto De Leon; Jorge Espino and Julián París, of the company Concept and Spaces; and the sister of former minister Suárez, Ana Isabel Suárez................................News report, translated, edited and rewritten, courtesy of the PJ "Not For Profit" news and foreign affairs agency and contains content from La Prensa.

panamajames
  10/1/2017 14:32 EST

Panama's former president Ricardo Martinelli has filed a new writ of protection to dismiss Judge Edwin Torres's decision to endorse his extradition, and now he has "all the scenarios open" to ensure that his case is recognized as a "political case."

Martinelli's spokesman, Luis Eduardo Camacho, says that the habeas corpus appeal was presented to Judge Marcia G. Cooke of the Federal Court of the Southern District of Florida on Friday.

According to Camacho, Martinelli, detained since last June, is "physically and emotionally well", although logically he is not pleased to be detained for "an unjust situation whose responsibility is the Government of Juan Carlos Varela."

After noting that US Justice has no open trial against Martinelli, the spokesman said that the defense "has reiterated and proven to the fullest that it is a political process", but must deal with a different judicial system, in which the Prosecutor's Office assumes representation of the applicant for extradition.
Camacho said that the judges only saw the formal part of the extradition request but if they inquired “a little more” into the background, the outcome of the trial would have been different.

panamajames
  10/4/2017 01:25 EST

RICARDO MARTINELLI’S efforts to dodge the bullet and avoid extradition to Panama to face trial got another setback on Monday, October 2 when The United States Supreme Court denied, a habeas
corpus, presented by the former President. The case had been assigned to Judge Clarence
Thomas, who had previously denied bail in favour of Martinelli, arrested since June 12 in Miami, pending extradition to Panama. The bond was requested on July 26 and denied by Thomas five days later. The full US Supreme Court discussed the habeas corpus on September 25 , but the decision was released on Monday.

On August 30, Federal judge Edwin Torres endorsed Martinelli’s extradition to Panama. The case was referred to the State, to take the final decision. On September 28 last, the Martinelli defense filed a habeas corpus – before the Southern District Court of Florida, demanding Martinelli’s non-delivery to Panama, as well as his immediate release, alleging that Torres had no jurisdiction to act and that the extradition treaty between United States and Panama, signed in 1904, was not applicable in this case.

panamajames
  10/5/2017 14:34 EST

October 5th 2017: Judge Marcia Cooke of the Southern District Court of the District of Florida issued a copy of the notice requesting the request for review on the certification of the extradition of former President Ricardo Martinelli to the defendants.

In this sense it grants a period of 14 days to Martinelli's defense to send a copy of the petition to the counterpart.

Likewise, the judge also ordered the Attorney Jefferson Sessions, Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State of the United States and Robert Wilson, representative of the Federal Detention Center where Martinelli is detained since June 12, that within 10 days to make their objections known, if so considered.

The notice order was issued today in response to the request made by Marcos Jiménez and his team of lawyers who form the defense of the former president who requested a habeas corpus to the Court for the purpose of a review of the decision of Judge Edwin Torres, who on August 31 granted the extradition certification to Panama of Ricardo Martinelli.

panamajames
  12/30/2017 12:01 EST

Ex-president Ricardo Martinelli’s last-gasp attempt to avoid extradition to Panama to face trial on wire-tapping charges which carry a potential sentence of 20 years, will be heard in a Miami courtroom on January 16.
It comes just five days before the Democratic Change (CD) Party holds its internal elections, with Martinelli seeking to remain as leader of the party he founded, to further his political ambitions, and, judging by corruption investigations, his financial standing.
Judge Marcia Cooke, of the Southern District Court of Florida, will listen to the habeas corpus arguments presented by Martinelli’s well funded legal team to prevent his extradition.
The hearing, was originally scheduled for January 9, and the delay will ensure that the ex-ruler will reach his seventh month in the sparse cell in the Miami Detention Center, one block the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr., Federal court building.
Martinelli was arrested near his Coral Gables mansion on June 12, at the request of Panama’s Supreme Court which wants him to answer for the unauthorized interception of communications from the National Security Council, attached to the Presidency, in the last two years of his mandate (2012-2014) with multi-million dollar snoop equipment purchased from Israel. The equipment and two of its operators have since disappeared.
The habeas corpus was filed on September 28th, 29 days federal judge Edwin Torres endorsed the hand over of Martinelli to Panama, considering that there are “reasonable grounds” to assume that the former president is guilty “of all or any of the crimes that are imputed to him… given the wealth of evidence provided by the Supreme Court of Justice in the request for extradition.”

augieman
  12/31/2017 06:52 EST

Martinelli. and Trumpf are pals. Wonder how that will play out.

cinparadise
  12/31/2017 08:38 EST

Augieman,


You wrote:


"Martinelli. and Trumpf are pals. Wonder how that will play out."


So they had some business dealings.


Flight manifests prove that former President Bill Clinton flew on a private plane referred to as "The Lolita Express" 26 times to "Pedophile Island" courtesy of Billionaire Epstein, a convicted child molester, so that he could repeatedly have sex with underage girls at Epstein's infamous sex parties featuring under age girls for which he was convicted of.

I wonder how that will play out.

JonCates
  12/31/2017 09:43 EST

Wow cin sounds like a 45 redneck voter. Seems to know
A LOT about the PED biz n P
WEIRDO

RedHatLady
  12/31/2017 09:46 EST

Check your facts before you spread false info. This is not true.

RedHatLady
  12/31/2017 09:46 EST

Check your facts before you spread false info. This is not true.

llseldon
  12/31/2017 10:04 EST

Remember Reagan & Noriega were “friends” at one time ‘TIL Noriega got greedy.
Happy New Years PL

llseldon
  12/31/2017 10:28 EST

Who’s like to see Trump & the Clinton’s to name a few, in jail? LOL
Happy New Years

llseldon
  12/31/2017 10:29 EST

That’s Clintons. PL
Happy New Years

WMBGamboa
  12/31/2017 11:47 EST

All three of them are creeps. There is evidence that both Clinton and Trump were (are?) harassers of women and little girls, but Martinelli topped them by screwing his whole country and most of its citizens. Perhaps they all belong in jail.

profman2
  12/31/2017 11:51 EST

With "thousands" of forums out here with political hostilities, all should do their best to keep it the hell out of this forum.

cinparadise
  12/31/2017 11:52 EST

WMBGamboa,


You wrote:

" There is evidence that both Clinton and Trump were (are?) harassers of women and little girls,"

There is zero proof that President Trump did any of these things. The accusations against him came and went during the election, purely political.

Former President Clinton however has paid out millions of dollars over the years in hush money to keep his victims quiet.

Just the facts.

jonoyakker
  12/31/2017 13:12 EST

Yes, a taped confession means nothing. Or did you forget the Hollywood Access tape?

JonCates
  12/31/2017 13:16 EST

Gee is dumbass CIN a girl??
45 sez grab an by the pussy
D IDNT hear Obama r billy say
That. R u fm Alabama asshole

volcan357
  12/31/2017 13:55 EST

I wonder if the same thing will happen to Varela when he leaves office?

cinparadise
  12/31/2017 14:03 EST

Liberal hierarchy of crime:

1) Former President Bill Clinton rapes and pays millions of dollars in hush money to dozens of women.

Not a crime.

2) Senator Ted Kennedy murders a woman and tries to cover it up while drunk driving.

Not a crime.

3) Senator Al Franken photographed molesting a woman while in a drug induced sleep.

Not a crime.

4) President trump taped talking routine "Locker Room" talk.**

Crime.

And for the record, I'm not a "girl," I have advanced undergraduate and post graduate degrees from one of the top ten universities in the US, and I'm not from Alabama.

** And to refer to that as a "confession" you must be splitting your Prozacs in half again.

volcan357
  12/31/2017 14:06 EST

You know in the USA almost all of US congressman take bribes. They are called campaign contributions. Those who give the bribes are called donors. The USA does not have a democracy because the donors run the government. The USA is one of the few countries in the world where it is legal to bribe the government.

llseldon
  12/31/2017 14:07 EST

I had the same thought volcan357??
Do you or anyone else know Dolores Jury lives in Chirquí on your side of the province? PL

llseldon
  12/31/2017 14:08 EST

Do you know Jerry Hall?

JonCates
  12/31/2017 14:36 EST

Ok he's not a girl fm AL but
Still a redneck 45 voter. N
Part of the. G. O. Pegs
ALs chic was a sleep asshole
N he did not touch her. I'm glad
We exiled UR dumb ass to P
HOPE they don't let UR ass back
N to our growing BLUE COUNTRY

cinparadise
  12/31/2017 14:43 EST

JonCates,

I forgot to mention, I didn't vote for President Trump.

augieman
  1/4/2018 16:33 EST

Cinparadise
All those worthless advanced degrees from top tier universities explains your purely stupid posts.

panamajames
  1/24/2018 10:34 EST

No luck for Martinelli these days as he lost his CD party leadership Sunday that he founded 20 years ago, as well his extradition appeal yesterday. No apparent help from Trump in this situation. He is coming back to Panama from the US to face charges.

Ex-president Ricardo Martinelli lost his final battle to avoid extradition to Panama, yesterday on Tuesday, Jan 23 when Judge Marcia Cooke, of the Court of the Southern District of Florida, endorsed the ruling of a previous judge.

He will return to face trial of illegal wiretapping of opposition politicians, critics, journalists and businessmen. He ia slo under investigation in multiple corruption cases

He remains behind bars in Miami until Feb 6, when the judge will evaluate the granting of bail while the extradition process is underway. So far he has spent 225 days in the Miami detention center

The prosecution has already announced that it opposes his release.

Sidney Sitton, attorney for Martinelli, said that his client will not appeal Judge Cooke’s decision reports La Prensa.

“I told him that when this ruling is over, we are not going to appeal anymore, we are going to Panama, win or lose”, Said Sitton.

According to the lawyer, the decision is not motivated by Martinelli’s humiliating defeat in the internal elections of Cambio Democrático, in which Martinelli lost the presidency of the party that he founded 20 years ago.

Martinelli appeared at the hearing in prison garb and with leg shackles. There were no family members in the courtroom.

panamajames
  2/14/2018 13:20 EST

The former president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli has been detained in Miami for 245 days. Judge Marcia Cooke decided to grant him bail for $ 1 million dollars. Cooke decided to grant the bond after considering his condition as former president of Panama, as well as other factors such as "his advanced age" and his "delicate state of health". The former president expects the State Department to solve an extradition request. Since the bail is effective, Martinelli will be able to wait at his home in Miami to define the extradition process against him. As it is deduced from the document disclosed late yesterday afternoon, the exmandatario will have to comply with a series of conditions, among which is the deposit of the deposit in cash or 10% of the total ($ 100 thousand); He will also have to give up his passport, stay in his residence in Miami, where he will be monitored electronically through a bracelet and shackles. He can only leave his residence for medical care reasons and with judicial authorization.

Some other conditions are not specified, such as who he can reside with and if he will be able to access the internet and social networks.
All this, while waiting for the Department of State of the United States to make a decision regarding the extradition request of the Government of Panama, which the former president will wait without the right to leave the territory of the United States.
During the entire waiting time of the decision of the request for extradition, former President Martinelli will be under surveillance of guards, with expenses paid by him.
Martinelli has been detained in the Federal jail in Miami since June 12 of last year, pending the definition of the extradition process that is followed in Panama.
The exmandatario is required by the Supreme Court of Justice of Panama in extradition for a process against him by the so-called 'telephone jabs'. In addition, it has pending, more than half a dozen legal proceedings for various reasons, most related to financial theft.
According to the file, during the administration of Martinelli, telephone conversations were listened in on, and e-mails were spied upon, without judicial authorization, of at least 150 people.

WMBGamboa
  2/17/2018 14:48 EST

Panamajames' post of Feb. 14 was correct, but only for one day. The same judge that granted $1M bail reversed the release order one day later. It appears that Martinelli will remain in jail in the US until April. For details, see the Newsroom Panama article online at:
http://www.thepanamanews.com/2018/02/martinellis-spasms-should-last-at-least-into-april/

panamajames
  3/10/2018 09:56 EST

It would appear that the on again, off again, extradition to Panama from Miami is on again for former President Ricardo Martinelli and he has Tweeted that he is ready to return and face trial. Martinelli is clearly feeling the effects of his nine months imprisonment in a Miami Federal Detention Center.

The man who, according to his lawyer Eduardo Camacho, is strong and is bearing up well under the strain, as he has been fighting extradition to Panama for three quarters of the year,

On Friday, March 9, he said he wanted to return to Panama to “confront the “minotaur” who pursues him politically in a case without evidence…”.

He said: “I have decided that this is like a birth, neither more nor less, that’s why I count the days, hours, minutes and seconds. I don’t see the moment not only to leave this earthly hell in Miami (the jail), but to go to my country“.

Martinelli in a rambling message spells out details of his imprisonment saying that the food is “horrible and generally expired.”

He complains that the iron and the microwave are damaged and says that the medicines, he receives are generic and do not have the same effect.

The ex-leader, who is used to being attended by a team of workers complains about his cell routine: “There is only one person who does the cleaning, cooking, serves coffee, cleans the room and fixes the bed.”

He says that he will accept to return to Panama under the principle of exclusivity, according to what the extradition treaty says. In other words, Martinelli seeks only to be prosecuted for the case of illegal wiretapping, for which the Supreme Court requested his extradition. He faces criminal investigation in six other cases and many more, if those don't stick. The people of Panama are awaiting justice.

llseldon
  3/10/2018 11:38 EST

Martinelli says he’s ready to go to Panama, the food in the MIA jail “s##ks”

panamajames
  6/10/2018 00:12 EST

The US State Department has approved the extradition of ex-President Ricardo Martinelli to face trial on charges, of unauthorized interception of communications by the National Security Council, in the last two years of his mandate.

The news comes four days before he marks a year behind bars in a Miami Detention center and the expenditure of millions of dollars on a team of Panamanian and US lawyers, attempting to save the former authoritarian ruler from facing justice, initially on the illegal snooping charges, and likely followed by nearly a dozen corruption and embezzlement charges.

Once notified by the State Department, the Panamanian Foreign Ministry, as a conduit between the Judicial Branch and the United States, has 30 days to proceed with the transfer to Panama.

In the transfer, a representative of the Supreme Court of Justice, another of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and members of the National Police will be present.

After Martinelli is in Panama, the Supreme Court which ordered his arrest on December 21, 2015 will be responsible for the judicial process.

Martinelli is tried by the Supreme Court because his status as a deputy of the Central American Parliament which before joining he presciently described as a “den of thieves”.

Sidney Sitton, one of Martinelli’s lawyers, said that authorities in Washington, DC., indicated that Martinelli ’s delivery order has already been signed.

Sitton told TVN News that Martinelli’s defense has requested he be sent to Panama on a commercial flight, but Panamanian authorities want him and his escort to travel on a private flight, to perhaps avoid a welcome home reception on a plane packed with CD Party supporters.

There is nothing small in the Martinelli portfolio, from the number of lawyers he has employed rivaling the size of the Panama soccer squad, now in Moscow, to the size of the fees that have fattened their wallets, and to the number of former cabinet members and/or businessmen whose hands have been dirtied by robbing the public purse and the millions of dollars syphoned from the system by Martinelli family members, and the number of delays in corruption cases of those claiming to walk in the shoes of the people, and the number of insiders illegally pardoned on his last day in office. It was a thinking big era with what Martinelli boasted was a cabinet of businessmen.

What remains to be seen is the size of sentences handed down by the courts to the insider thieves. The general opinion is they will be reduced from large numbers to medium size numbers by Panama’s Supreme Court of Impunity.

Others afflicted with “health problems” will spend their time entertaining guests in their cookie jar funded mansions, far from the squalid homes of those who voted for them.

panamajames
  6/12/2018 20:53 EST

Mr. Ricardo Martinelli is back in Panama after almost a year in jail in Miami. He arrived Monday and said 'I'm ready to see the World Cup!' were the first words pronounced by former President Ricardo Martinelli when he addressed the Panamanian media covering his departure from the Opa Locka airport in Miami, Florida, United States, after 364 days in a federal penitentiary.

He had not left the private plane in which the US Department of State had extradited him to Panama, when his lawyers had already presented a request to the Supreme Court of Justice for doctors to make an evaluation. At eight o'clock in the morning, an "urgent" appeal was filed by Holland Polo, representing Martinelli. He formally requested - and expressly - that the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences perform a medical checkup on his client to control a list of diseases.

The paper entered to the folder 138-15 was recharged in the diplomatic note sent by the Department of State to the Panamanian Chancellery in which it requests that, upon arrival in Panama, a complete medical examination be carried out and Martinelli should receive the appropriate attention.

The strategy of the defense of the former president focused on achieving as soon as possible a change in the measure of preventive detention of his client. Although he did not succeed, his client spent the night at the Santo Tomás Hospital. A year like the prisoner 14813-104, in the Federal Prison of Miami, completely isolated from the outside world, depressed, with a constant temperature of 14 degrees Celsius in the cell, had left him more than worn out. Yesterday he was transferred to one of the houses specially prepared for him in the minimum security prison of El Renacer.

From there, the man accustomed to having his orders fulfilled immediately, put his hands out between the bars to greet the cameras that kept watching him. Behind the irons of the window he shouted that his rights had been violated, that he should be taken to a clinic, and even preached his political comeback future in 2019.

Installed in the rudimentary house, he was accompanied by his wife, Marta Linares, and later by his lawyers.

Approximately at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the former president was transferred to the Judicial building where he witnessed a communication procedure presided by the judge of guarantees Jerónimo Mejía.

The former Minister of Labor, Alma Cortés, said this morning that former President Ricardo Martinelli is "afraid of being poisoned."

Cortés showed up at the Santo Tomas Hospital, where Martinelli has been held since last night, however, she was not allowed to visit the ex -mandatario.

Marta Linares de Martinelli, wife of the exmandatario, also went to the hospital. "Today we were not allowed to visit RM (Ricardo Martinelli) or any relative by superior orders." Yesterday in Renacer they put him in a cell without air, said the former lady on her twitter account. The next line added that "Noriega's cell was in better condition". In other words, Noriega received better treatment than Ricardo Martinelli despite having been convicted.

Martinelli arrived on Monday to Panama, extradited from Miami, United States, and was transferred to the El Renacer jail, initially, and then to a hearing to be read his rights and the charges, before the magistrate judge, Jerónimo Mejía, who at 10:30 at night, ordered his transfer to the hospital.

Marta Linares de Martinelli, wife of the exmandatario, also went to the hospital.

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Cost of Living in PanamaCost of Living in Panama

Expats in Panama enjoy a relatively low cost of living. However, it's important to do your research to make sure you'll actually enjoy those saving while creating a high quality of life as an expat in Panama.

Moving to PanamaMoving to Panama Guide

Do you have to buy a round trip ticket when moving to Panama? How difficult is it to bring my dog? Should I buy a home in Panama? Can I find health

Real Estate in PanamaReal Estate in Panama

Real estate listings in popular cities and towns in Panama.

Pros Cons of Living in PanamaPros & Cons of Living in Panama

Take off your rose-colored glasses and learn what expats have to say about the biggest challenges and the greatest rewards of living in Panama.

Retiring in PanamaRetiring in Panama

Advice for people retiring in Panama.

Visa and Residency PanamaPanama Visa & Residency Guide

This article covers the ins and outs of the most common tourist and residency visas that expats and global nomads obtain when moving to and living in Panama.

10 Tips for Living in Panama10 Tips for Living in Panama

If you've recently arrived in Panama, here are 10 tips for digital nomads living in Panama.

Panama Legal Business (PANLEB)
Panama Legal Business (PANLEB)

Discover a full range of legal services in Panama, from residency and visas to bank accounts, company formation, and real estate advice. Trust Panama Legal Business.
Get Quotes

Panama Legal Business (PANLEB)Panama Legal Business (PANLEB)

Discover a full range of legal services in Panama, from residency and visas to bank accounts, company formation, and real estate advice. Trust Panama Legal Business.
Get Quotes

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Help others in Panama by answering questions about the challenges and adventures of living in Panama.

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