News
Wednesday 18th September 2024.
September 17, 2024
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office recovered six large beams, reported stolen by the Ministry of Public Works (MOP), during a search warrant carried out this Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at a location on 24 de Diciembre.
With this action, 59 of the 600 stolen beams have been recovered.
The operation continues with inspections in other commercial establishments in Panama City, where it is presumed that more beams could be located. Each one of them is valued at 5 thousand dollars.
The anti-corruption prosecutor’s office staff continues to conduct investigations at different locations.
Through the social network X, the Public Prosecutor’s Office also reported that “H” beams were found during the inspection procedures carried out in the communal councils of Belisario Porras and Las Cumbres. In these meetings they stated that they requested material from the MOP regional offices “and they were given the beams.”
On Tuesday morning, September 17, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office conducted an information search at the offices of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP), in relation to the acquisition of 600 beams that have been reported missing.
Sources close to the investigation said the aim of the investigation is to determine the exact number of stolen beams and to pinpoint the date of their disappearance.
The investigation began at around 9:30 am, when prosecutors requested information on documents related to the date of purchase of the beams and the time of their transfer to the MOP warehouse in Farfán.
The mayor of San Miguelito, Irma Hernández , responded this Tuesday, September 17, to the criticism against her after two interviews she gave in the past to a television outlet and a radio outlet.
Both videos went viral on social media on Monday, September 16. After the San Miguelito City Council meeting, Hernandez told La Prensa : “It was unfortunate that they were taken out of context. The ideal thing would be to watch the full interview.”
Regarding her previous statements, the mayor explained: “We made statements about people who were unable to work because they were bedridden and we had to testify that this was happening here in the Municipality of San Miguelito.”
Hernández said that the purpose of these statements was not to dismiss people with disabilities, but to expose a specific situation. “It is painful that they make these statements when there has always been awareness and willingness to support people with disabilities.”
The mayor defended her administration’s work in this area, stating that they have worked closely with the relevant institutions to assist those who need it most.
“There are more than 10 people who did not have the capacity to manage their payment and required the support of family members,” he said, referring to specific cases in which the affected workers needed assistance due to their conditions.
Hernández stressed that his administration has exceeded legal expectations regarding the inclusion of people with disabilities in the municipal workforce.
“There are more than 200 municipal employees who have some condition or disability, and this exceeds what is dictated by the law. It is 2% and we have more than 30% in the mayor’s office,” he said, underlining the municipality’s commitment to labour inclusion.
The National Institute for Vocational Training and Capacity Building for Human Development (Inadeh) announced that those involved in the case of the disappearance of 34 checks in the entity during the administration of former President Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019) were sentenced.
The case involved 18 defendants who faced charges of crimes against public faith and negligent embezzlement, directly affecting the entity’s payroll funds, when the checks were stolen from the Inadeh Treasury Department.
One of the accused received a suspension of proceedings for a period of three years, on the condition that he return to the National Treasury the amount equivalent to the stolen and exchanged checks.
Two other defendants reached plea agreements with the prosecution. One of them was sentenced to 48 months in prison, along with a fine of one thousand dollars to be paid to the National Treasury after the sentence is executed.
However, the defense managed to commute the sentence to 200 days’ fine, equivalent to a total of 500 dollars, which must be paid within eight months.
Another of the accused, who also reached an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office, received a sentence of 48 months in prison and two years of disqualification from holding public office.
This person was granted temporary house arrest due to his health condition.
A leader of the ‘Terror Killa’ gang, with the alias Francis, was captured in Spain by the international police Interpol , the Public Prosecutor’s Office reported on Tuesday, September 17 .
The arrest warrant was issued by the Specialized Superior Prosecutor’s Office for Gang Crimes, following Operation Istanbul carried out last July.
This gang operates in Colón and has territorial control of the Barrio Sur district, specifically on 16th Street, Domingo Díaz and Callejón Martínez, also in the Cristóbal district, and in the Sabanitas district, in the Irving Saladino multi-family homes.
Last July, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, together with the Police, arrested some 30 people linked to this criminal organization in Sabanitas, Irving Saladino, Nuevo México, Portobelo and Chilibre. Of those 30, the prosecution found that 14 were prisoners who operated from the Nueva Esperanza Penitentiary Complex, in the province of Colón.
“The gang is dedicated to committing criminal acts in a coordinated and organized manner, such as the sale of illicit substances, robberies, thefts from homes and homicides,” the prosecution said.
A total of 989 packages of suspected illicit substances were seized in Arraiján, province of West Panama.
The merchandise was found inside a warehouse in the Los Rosales sector, Vista Alegre district.
According to the police report, the place was closed when the authorities arrived, so it was necessary to force their way in. Inside, the packages were found wrapped in adhesive tape, with different logos and stored in black boxes.
No arrests were reported in connection with this operation, while investigations are ongoing.
Captain Everardo De León, from the Arraiján Police Zone, urged citizens to collaborate by reporting any suspicious activity in their surroundings in order to combat crime.
Panamanian authorities have arrested the fourth suspect involved in an armed robbery on a bus on the David-Frontera route in the province of Chiriquí.
The arrest was reportedly made during a search warrant at a residence located in the Las Lomas district of David (Chiriquí).
The arrested man, a 24-year-old man, was placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the corresponding procedures.
In relation to this case, three people had already been arrested in a joint operation between the National Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, who are continuing the investigation into the incident.
The robbery took place in the Gariché area, on a little-travelled stretch, where the criminals forced the bus driver to stop and robbed the passengers of money, mobile phones and other valuables. Images of the incident were widely circulated on social media.
As ordered by President José Raúl Mulino last Saturday, the ministers of the Presidency, Environment, and Commerce and Industry repealed on Monday the three resolutions that declared confidential information on arbitration proceedings filed against Panama.
The repeals were published in the Official Gazette No. 30119 of September 16, 2024 .
On the evening of Friday, September 13, three resolutions were published in the Official Gazette restricting access to all data on national or international arbitrations in which the State was involved.
Juan Carlos Orillac , Minister of the Presidency; Juan Carlos Navarro , Minister of the Environment; and Julio Moltó , Minister of Commerce and Industry, signed the resolutions that established the aforementioned provisions.
They ordered and declared restricted access to arbitration processes and all information, reports, notes, correspondence and documents related to diplomatic, commercial or international negotiations of any kind, relative or related, directly or indirectly, to the object of the dispute and the arbitration process.
Some 24 hours later, Mulino overruled them and ordered the “urgent repeal” of these resolutions. He recalled at that time that he maintained his commitment to transparency and access to information.
Staff from the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology of Panama (Imhpa) and the Ministry of Agricultural Development (Mida) completed the phase of technical meetings to exchange information with the country’s producers on the effects of the rainy season.
The IMHPA reported that officials traveled to the province of Darien to provide producers with weather forecasts for the months of September, October and November.
It is worth remembering that these three months are the ones that regularly record the greatest amount of water accumulated as a result of rainfall.
At the technical meeting, Mida staff spoke with producers from the region with the aim of exchanging knowledge, to determine the optimal dates for planting and techniques for preserving water.
These meetings with producers began at the beginning of September.
These technical roundtables seek to understand climate behavior and generate recommendations that allow producers and stakeholders in the agricultural sector to make appropriate decisions.