Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli was among 20 people who went on trial Tuesday on money laundering charges as he tries to restore political power ahead of elections next year.
FILE – Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli walks into Tocumen International Airport, followed by reporters as they wait for Martinelli’s sons Luis Enrique Martinelli and Ricardo Martinelli Linares to finish serving prison terms in the United States for bribery from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht . , in Panama City, Jan. 25, 2023. Former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli, who wants to return to office in the 2024 elections, has been on trial since May 23, 2023 for embezzlement in the purchase of a publishing house that publishes books throughout the world. newspaper. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco, File)
The Associated Press
PANAMA CITY — Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli was among 20 people who went on trial Tuesday on money laundering charges as he tries to restore the country’s political system before next year. elections.
Martinelli, who had back surgery last week, is absent. One of his lawyers tried twice to stop the prosecution, but Judge Baloisa Marquínez refused. The former president has denied wrongdoing.
The case, known as “New Business,” began in 2017 and involves the purchase of a publishing company that owns national newspapers.
Prosecutors argue that through a complex network of transfers of $43 million in foreign currency, companies that won government contracts during Martinelli’s presidency, gave money to a front company that was used to buy the printer. The front company that collected the money was called “New Business.”
Martinelli is also expected to stand trial later this year in a case related to massive bribes paid by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to win government contracts.
Martinelli served as President of Panama from 2009 to 2014. He is expected to participate in his party’s primaries in July.
