News
Wednesday 12th July 2023
July 11, 2023
The First Settlement Court for Criminal Cases summoned Eduardo Jaén , former director of the National Authority for Government Innovation (AIG), Mayer Mizrachi and three other people to trial for the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering, in a case related to the contracting the Criptex platform .
This is established by resolution 15 of July 10, 2023 by Judge Agueda Rentería, a decision that also affects Eduardo Jaén Roy, Aracelly Roy de Jaén and Ariadna Lorena Jaén de Barletta.
According to the ruling, a document released this Tuesday, July 11, although the crime of corruption of public servants, which serves as a precedent for money laundering, is prescribed, this condition does not make the characteristics of the illicit origin of the money disappear.
The ruling states that on April 1, 2014, Innovative Venture SA, a company that at that time had Mizrachi as its legal representative; and the AIG, then directed by Eduardo Jaén, signed contract 19-2014 that authorized the company to manage the Criptex messaging platform for the sum of $211,850.
Later, Innovative Venture deposited $45,000 and $19,000 to accounts of the companies GFI Investment and Caribbean Holding, respectively, both located in the Virgin Islands. Subsequently, those funds allegedly ended up in the hands of Eduardo Jaén.
The ruling also states that the rest of the defendants participated in the creation of public limited companies and changes in the board of directors of those companies, in which illicit funds were allegedly deposited.
An internal audit of AIG carried out in 2014 revealed that Innovative Venture, a Mizrachi company, allegedly did not comply with what the contract established: the creation and integration of a unique and private network for security forces.
The majority bench of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) rejected the proposal to summon the administrator of the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), Iván Eskildsen, to answer a questionnaire before the plenary session of the National Assembly.
It was the independent deputy Raúl Fernández who presented the motion, on the afternoon of Monday, July 10, but it did not pass after receiving 20 votes against and 9 in favor.
“The opportunity to know the destination of the tourist tax credits was lost and the forgetfulness of this sector. I submitted a summons to the director of the ATP together with other colleagues, but the majority voted against it. They cover up for each other!” wrote the deputy.
The questionnaire consisted of 6 questions, among them, what policy has the ATP implemented to attract tourists after the pandemic and what steps is it taking to attract cruise ships now that Panama is close to completing the port.
The former President of the Republic, Martín Torrijos (2004-2009), who aspires to govern again from 2024, withdrew from the TVN news studio (to which he had been invited), because the Vice President of the Republic and presidential candidate of the ruling party, PRD, José Gabriel Gaby Carrizo arrived at the television station (who had not been invited) .
The television station then chose to give way to Carrizo, which is why Torrijos left.
The incident was made known by Vivian de Torrijos.
It is not the first time that Carrizo has arrived at a television channel without warning. He did the same on June 20, while the Telemetro Reporta newscast was broadcast. He was immediately accommodated in the studio and he was interviewed for almost 40 minutes .
That day on Telemetro, the now presidential candidate for Cambio Democrático (CD), Rómulo Roux, had to wait for Carrizo’s interview to finish before going into the studio.
The population of Panama is 4 million 202 thousand 572, reveals the population and housing census carried out this 2023.
“I am pleased with the hard work of the Institute of Statistics and Census and of each of the offices of the Comptroller’s Office that made these censuses possible, in addition to the 8,848 enumerators and supervisors, who carried out this census activity with positive results,” The Comptroller General of the Republic, Gerardo Solís, said in a conference.
He indicated that during the census exercise the number of homes estimated by the cartography department at 1 million 492 thousand 690 private homes was exceeded. Meanwhile, the enumerators reached 1 million 589 thousand 018 residences, that is, 96 thousand 328 additional homes.
Regarding education, it was determined that the school population from 6 to 11 years old is 423 thousand 036 students. The Comptroller’s Office highlighted that there are 32 thousand 051 additional students, in relation to the 2010 census, when a student population of 390 thousand 985 students was registered.
Meanwhile, the estimate of children and adolescents from 5 to 19 years old enrolled in the educational system reached 918 thousand 336; while in 2010, the figure was 836,109, that is, 82,227 more students than in the previous census.
The entity stressed that the illiteracy rate “decreased systematically.” By 2023 it decreased from 5.5% to 3.7%. In concrete data, indicated the Comptroller’s Office, in 2010 there were 148 thousand 747 people who could not read or write; in 2023, 123 thousand 674 people are counted.
The census revealed that the insured population is 1,911,824 people, which represents an increase of 135,904 registered insured persons, compared to the 2010 census.
While self-recognition figures compared to 2010, registered a significant increase in these variables. In the indigenous groups, it showed a growth of 280 thousand 553 people who recognized themselves as indigenous, which totals 698 thousand 114 people; in 2010 the figure reached 417 thousand 559 people, added the institution.
In the case of Afro-descendants, there was an increase of 973,568 more people than in 2010, when it was totaled that there were 313,289 people in Panama who recognized themselves as Afro-descendants. In 2023, 1,286,857 people were registered.
Turkish Airlines announced the increase in flights between Istanbul and Panama City from 10 weekly frequencies to 11 as of October 29 and from December 26 it will increase an additional frequency to make the number 12.
The airline currently operates 10 flights a week, of which 3 are direct between the Panamanian capital and Istanbul and 7 in connection with Bogotá, Colombia.
The additional flight that will begin to operate weekly at the end of October will be direct between Panama City and Istanbul. With which the non-stop frequencies will be on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Subsequently, as of December 26, the airline reported that it will once again increase the frequency of direct flights with an additional day, in which case Thursday is added. It will be possible to travel between Istanbul and Panama City roundtrip without stopover on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Additional to the flights available in stopover with Bogotá.
The president of the airline Ahmet Bolat, recently highlighted that the connection to Panama in alliance with Copa Airlines meant an important added value and they are committed to increasing the route to be able to offer the service to passengers connecting from other markets with the hub of the Americas.
Some 22 construction companies expressed their interest in participating in the public tender for the improvement and rehabilitation of the runways of the Tocumen International Airport for a cost of $42.9 million.
The representatives of these companies toured the runways to see the condition of the pavement.
Tocumen SA informed that the works include the study, design, rehabilitation and maintenance of the pavements on both runways.
Raffoul Arab, general manager of the Tocumen international airport, explained that the rehabilitation of the runways “is a priority in the maintenance schedule of the air terminal.”
This bidding act will take place on August 8.
“We are focused on guaranteeing the highest levels of safety in aeronautical operations, complying with the most demanding international standards in civil aviation,” Arab added.
Tocumen International Airport has two landing strips with the capacity to receive large commercial and cargo aircraft. An average of 400 daily air operations are carried out between both runways.
The sale of 100% electric vehicles so far in 2023 has registered a considerable increase compared to 2022.
In the first six months of this year, 157 vehicles have been sold, reported the National Secretariat of Energy. They hope that in this month of July they will exceed the 160 cars sold in the year 2022.
In 2021, the sale was 81 cars and in 2020, 21.
According to the Secretariat, March and June of this year were the months with the highest sales: 35 and 37, respectively.
On February 15, Executive Decree No. 51 was published, which regulates Law 295 of April 25, 2022, which encourages electric mobility in land transport.