Several ministers of former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli are being tried in Panama since Tuesday for alleged corruption and money laundering, in a scandal that also involves two of the former president’s sons.
In total, 21 people are on trial, including former Public Works ministers during Martinelli’s administration (2009-2014), Federico Suárez and Jaime Ford, for the alleged collection of commissions on infrastructure projects.
“The expectations are the ones the prosecution has always had, which is to achieve the conviction of those people who have been responsible for the crimes of corruption of public servants, money laundering and criminal association,” prosecutor Aurelio Vásquez told the press.
Martinelli’s sons Ricardo and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares are also allegedly involved in this mega-scandal.
However, both have immunity for being alternate deputies of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) and their eventual prosecution must be carried out by the Supreme Court of Justice.
According to the prosecution, the accused in the so-called “Blue Apple” case created shell companies to receive money from collecting commissions from contractors to expedite procedures in 2011 and 2012.
The payment of bribes, ranging from 5% to 10% of the project value, was deposited in an anonymous corporation called Blue Apple Service.
Martinelli won the 2009 elections with a strong anti-corruption speech, but more than a dozen ministers were arrested for various scandals during his tenure.
Martinelli himself was convicted in the first instance to almost 11 years in prison for money laundering, by acquiring a publishing company with public money.
The former president is also scheduled to stand trial, along with his sons, for the alleged collection of commissions from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
For this case, the Martinelli brothers were sentenced to two and a half years in prison in the United States, which in January 2023 prohibited the entry into the country of the former Panamanian ruler and his immediate family for acts of “significant corruption.”
