Panama will ask Guatemala to extradite Martinelli’s children for alleged corruption

First modification: 10/08/2021 – 18:00

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Panama City (AFP)

Panama will request the extradition for alleged corruption of the children of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, currently detained in a Guatemalan prison awaiting extradition to the United States, which is claiming them for the Odebrecht plot.

“We received the notification from the judge requesting preventive detention with a view to extradition (of the brothers Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares) and we are going to proceed with that request,” the Panamanian Foreign Minister told Telemetro on Tuesday. Erika Mouynes.

The extradition request was raised by Judge Baloisa Marquínez, within a judicial process in Panama for a mega corruption scandal known as “Blue Apple”.

Martinelli’s children have been imprisoned since July 6, 2020 in Guatemala. Both are required by the US justice, which accuses them of money laundering related to the case of payments of bribes in exchange for public works made by Odebrecht.

A Guatemalan criminal court authorized the extradition to the United States of Luis Enrique on May 26, and the judicial decision against his brother, Ricardo Alberto, is pending.

In the “Blue Apple” case, a process dating from 2017, an alleged money laundering, corruption and illicit association to commit a crime is investigated, by a network that solicited bribes from contractors in exchange for tenders during the Martinelli government (2009 -2014).

According to the prosecution, the defendants, including the Martinelli brothers, created front companies to receive money from bribes in 2011 and 2012. Bribes, of up to 10% of the value of the project, were deposited in a limited company called Blue Apple Service.

The prosecution accuses those involved of laundering 82 million dollars, of which the authorities have recovered 32 million through collaboration agreements.