News
Wednesday 28th August 2024.
August 27, 2024
The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice did not admit an appeal filed by the former Minister of Labor and Labor Development Alma Cortés against the sentence imposed by the Superior Court of Liquidation of Criminal Cases of four years in prison for the crime of embezzlement.
Through edict No. 145, posted at the headquarters of the Criminal Court on Tuesday, August 27, it is reported that under the report of Judge María Eugenia López and the endorsement of Judges Ariadne García and Maribel Cornejo, it was decided not to admit the appeal for cassation filed by attorney Carlos Carrillo, representing Cortés.
The appeals for cassation filed by Hernán García Aparicio, Ada Margarita Romero and Iván A. Gantés were also denied.
The decision of the Criminal Chamber was based on articles 2,430 and 2,439 of the Criminal Code , which establish a series of requirements under which the judges may not admit an appeal for cassation if any of them are not met.
These include that the appeal must contain a concise history of the case, determine the cause or causes for revoking the conviction, specify the reasons, legal provisions violated and the concept in which they have been violated.
On December 13, 2022, after reviewing an appeal by the prosecution, the magistrates of the Superior Liquidation Court, Manuel Mata Avendaño, Secundino Mendieta and José Hoo Justiniani, concluded to revoke a ruling of the Third Liquidation Court of Criminal Cases, after concluding that the elements of conviction collected during the investigation provide the degree of certainty to issue a condemnatory ruling, highlighting that there is sufficient incriminating evidence regarding the participation of those investigated in the criminal act.
In the case of former Minister Cortés, she was sentenced to 32 months in prison, since a third of her sentence was reduced for having returned to the Court of Auditors the sum paid in travel expenses.
The case is related to three meetings of the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, which were allegedly attended by former Mitradel officials.
The investigation in this case was initiated following a complaint filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office on July 28, 2014.
The National Police captured another of the most wanted in Operation Jericho, Carlos Rodrigo Bascombe Samaniego, for whose capture the sum of $5,000 was offered.
Bascombe was part of a group of six people wanted by the Drug Prosecutor’s Office, who are accused of being part of a criminal network dedicated to money laundering and drug trafficking.
His arrest took place in the San Pedro neighborhood , in the Juan Díaz district. The detainee will be brought before a judge in the next few hours to face a hearing on charges and precautionary measures.
The reward for anyone who provides information on the whereabouts of Jorge Néstor Sánchez Rodríguez , one of those linked to the criminal network that dismantled Operation Jericho and who is accused of the alleged commission of the crimes of drug trafficking and money laundering, has been increased from $20,000 to $30,000.
Sánchez Rodríguez, known in the criminal world as alias “Comanche”, is believed to be linked to the seizure of 187 kilos of cocaine in Brisas del Golf in February of this year. In this case, two people have been convicted of the crimes of aggravated possession of drugs and illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
On August 15, the day the final stage of Operation Jericho began , the National Police raided an apartment in the Greengarden building , located in the exclusive Santa María neighborhood, where he lived.
According to property data available in the Public Registry of Panama, the property is in his name and has a value of $620 thousand 62, with a mortgage for $546 thousand.
The apartment has an area of 314 square meters.
The fugitive is listed as the president of Transporte Terrestre Sánchez Cano SA, a company that has “suspended” status. He is also the president of Bapisa SA, which is also “suspended.”
His name is also linked to Construcciones Sánchez Cano INC, a company that, according to the operating permit, is located in the Villagian building, in the Juan Díaz district, coincidentally it has the same location as the Villagian mechanical workshop, a company that, according to the Public Registry, has as director Annyuri Frank Villareal Lara , another of those linked to Operation Jericó.
Annyuri Villareal Lara was provisionally detained last Friday, August 23, while she is investigated for the alleged commission of money laundering crimes and conspiracy to commit drug-related crimes.
After several days of absence from the National Assembly, Deputy Raúl Pineda, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), returned to the legislative palace.
The politician assured that he will distance himself from politics, expressed his confidence in the justice system and clarified that he does not hold the Government responsible for the case facing his son, Abraham Rico Pineda, investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for his alleged participation in the criminal network dismantled during Operation Jericho, in which he is accused of money laundering.
Shortly before the National Assembly began its plenary session on Monday, August 26, Pineda said that he is going through a situation that no parent wants to experience.
The deputy also said that he will distance himself from politics, which implies that he will not participate in the Budget Committee when the transfer of funds must be approved, nor in the plenary session of the National Assembly when issues related to the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the Judicial Branch are debated.
He also stressed that he does not hold this Government or the President, José Raúl Mulino, responsible for the situation his son is currently experiencing.
“I think it is a legal case that we must face and, as a family, we are united. In addition, I will have to talk with the different parties to address this issue,” he added.
Luis Eduardo Camacho , a deputy from the ruling Realizing Goals (RM) party, managed to get his colleagues on the Government, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the National Assembly to give the green light to his legislative proposal to expand sanctions for prosecutors, judges and magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ).
During the session of the Government Commission held on Tuesday, August 27, the proposal was approved, which means that it can be discussed in the first debate. Camacho’s bill proposes modifying article 389 of the Penal Code to extend the figure of prevarication to prosecutors of the Public Ministry, judges and magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice.
The initiative, which was presented to the legislative assembly on Monday, July 8 of this year, also contemplates increasing the sentences from four to six years in prison for those who commit this crime.
Article 389 of the Criminal Code defines the figure of prevarication as follows: “ Any attorney who, through an agreement with the other party or by other fraudulent means, harms the case entrusted to him or who, in the same case, serves parties with opposing interests, shall be punished with imprisonment from two to four years. If the perpetrator is the defense attorney of an accused in a criminal proceeding, the penalty shall be increased by up to half . ”
During the discussion, Camacho said that prevarication is not a figure invented by his bill. “It is a figure that even exists in our country, but unlike countries with more legislative and constitutional tradition, in Panama it is defined to limit this crime when the lawyers in one part of the process agree to harm one of the parties,” he added.
This Tuesday was the third session of the Government Commission. After hearing the various arguments, the project was adopted after receiving the favorable vote of seven of the nine deputies who were in the commission.