According to the call of Judge Baloisa Marquínez, some 35 people, including two former presidents of the Republic, must appear in court between August 1st and 18th, 2023, or alternatively, between September 27th and October 17th.
The Judicial Body stated that on this occasion, former presidents Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) and Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019) and several of their former ministers will definitively be tried in the process, considered to be the largest on corruption in the history of Panama.
The two sons of Martinelli are among the defendants and are currently imprisoned in the United States after pleading guilty of bribery payments from the Brazilian construction company, for a total sum of 28 million dollars.
In the preliminary hearing of the case, the prosecutor Mahmad Daud Hasan asserted that Odebrecht, in Panama since 2006, paid 59 million dollars in bribes to rulers, politicians and intermediaries, in exchange for contracts with the Panamanian State.
The case had its origin in a complaint by former Controller Alvin Weeden, filed on September 18th, 2015, which was archived; the case was subsequently reopened a month later after an agreement between the Brazilian construction company and the United States Department of Justice, on December 21st, 2016.
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