Martinelli Flies From Panama to Miami as Corruption Probe Moves
Source: Bloomberg News
Martinelli Flies From Panama to Miami as Corruption Probe Moves
by 'By'Michael D McDonald
2:11 PM CST
February 4, 2015
(Bloomberg) -- Former Panama President Ricardo Martinelli, whose term ended in July, has racked up miles on his jet’s engines in the wake of allegations that he inflated $45 million in contracts through social programs during his administration.
Martinelli, who has rejected the allegations which prompted the Supreme Court to back an investigation last week, flew in his private jet from Panama to Guatemala to Miami after the decision. His plane continued on to Bologna, Italy, Panama City-based La Prensa reported. Martinelli lawyer Rogelio Cruz said the trip was planned before the Supreme Court decision and that he believes the former president is in the U.S.
Panama’s nine Supreme Court judges ruled unanimously last week to allow a special prosecutor to investigate claims that Martinelli ordered the head of Panama’s National Assistance Program to inflate and approve contracts to buy dehydrated food. The NAP’s former director, Giacomo Tamburrelli, made the claims in an affidavit in December and is under house arrest for charges of fraud, embezzlement and crimes against the public administration. In a second affidavit last month, Tamburrelli said he didn’t benefit from the contracts.
“It’s not true and it’s not proven,” Cruz said when asked about the allegations against Martinelli. Cruz said he is seeking a legal hearing to have the investigation stopped.
“This media circus about my trip is being done out of fear of the accusations I will be making,” Martinelli posted on his Twitter account Jan. 30, without giving more details. “They want it to seem like I left and won’t return -- they shouldn’t even dream of that.”
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-04/martinelli-flies-from-panama-to-miami-as-corruption-probe-moves
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Panama's globe-trotting ex-president flees corruption probe
TIM JOHNSON
Last updated 12:21, February 3 2015
[font size=1]
JET SETTER: Disgraced former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli has said he's so rich he doesn't need to steal. [/font]
Panama has long been a haven for dictators and foreign ne'er-do-wells, but now its citizens are watching the curious spectacle of their own former president trotting the globe in a private jet, perhaps looking for refuge himself.
If former President Ricardo Martinelli returns to Panama, the likelihood of his arrest on corruption charges appears to grow by the day.
Martinelli left Panama last Wednesday aboard a 15-seat Hawker jet for Guatemala, then continued for refueling stops in Florida, Canada and Ireland before landing in Bologna, Italy.
Martinelli holds both Italian and Panamanian citizenship and is a good friend of Italy's disgraced former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The two share legal troubles over corruption allegations that involve Italian companies. In Martinelli's case, the issues involve alleged kickbacks over the purchase of radars, helicopters and electronic mapping systems.
As Martinelli traveled, a criminal investigation into his 2009-14 government was tightening on those closest to him. On Sunday, Panama asked Interpol to put out a red alert for Martinelli's former private secretary, who is thought to be in the United States, on charges of embezzlement and corruption.
More:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/65716728/panamas-globetrotting-expresident-flees-corruption-probe