PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panama’s authorities stated on Wednesday it wished to get well hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in ill-gotten gains made by two sons of a former Panamanian president who’ve pleaded guilty within the United States to cash laundering.
The sons of former President Ricardo Martinelli – Luis Enrique Martinelli and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli – entered guilty pleas this month after U.S. prosecutors accused them of appearing as intermediaries for some $28 million in bribes from Brazilian building firm Odebrecht to a Panamanian official whereas their father was president from 2009 to 2014.
Panama’s lawyer basic’s workplace stated in an announcement it despatched the U.S. Department of Justice the restitution request final Friday, describing the Central American nation because the “sufferer” of the brothers’ crimes.
In an announcement, the U.S. Embassy in Panama stated Ricardo Martinelli admitted conspiring along with his brother Luis and others to create offshore financial institution accounts for entrance corporations to obtain and canopy up over $28 million in bribes from Odebrecht.
The case stems from Odebrecht’s personal guilty plea from 2016 through which the agency admitted participating in bribery and cash laundering associated to the cost of greater than $700 million in bribes to officers throughout Latin America so as to win contracts.
The elder Ricardo Martinelli has not been convicted of any crimes, however he stays below investigation in Panama due to a separate ongoing probe regarding Odebrecht. He has constantly maintained his innocence and described himself because the sufferer of political witch hunts.
(Reporting by Elida Moreno; Editing by Dave Graham and Peter Cooney)
