First change: 01/25/2023 – 15:30 Last change: 01/25/2023 – 15:29
NEW YORK (AFP) – The two sons of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli could be released this Wednesday after serving the sentence imposed by the US court for bribing Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.
Upon their release, Luis Enrique and Ricardo Martinelli will be “transferred” to ICE offices, the US immigration service, from where they will be “deported” to Panama because they have no legal status in the United States, one said Justice source with AFP.
“If they don’t mind, their deportation should be quick,” sources said.
After consultation with AFP, the lawyers refused any information.
After pleading guilty to US prosecutors’ allegations in December 2021, the two brothers were sentenced last May to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for receiving $28 million in bribes from Odebrecht of which $19 million went through US accounts.
The time they were detained first in Guatemala and then in the United States until the court verdict was announced was deducted from their sentences.
At the hearing that announced the verdict, the brothers’ lawyers accused former President Martinelli (2009-2014) of inducing them to commit the crimes.
back to prison
Upon their return to Panama, they are arrested again after a court recently denied their lawyer’s request for a “stay of arrest warrant” against them, the Judiciary recently reported.
Both face charges in Panama, along with their father, for alleged money laundering in a corruption scheme set up by Odebrecht that spanned various Latin American countries, and another scandal called “Blue Apple,” a commission-collecting scheme to speed up contracts during the Martinelli Government.
Despite the allegations, Ricardo Martinelli senior intends to run for president again in the 2024 elections.
On Jan. 3, the Martinelli brothers’ lawyer, Carlos Carrillo, told AFP that the ex-president’s children had posted $14 million bail to avoid arrest upon arrival in Panama.
According to Carrillo, the defendants each deposited $2 million in the Odebrecht case and $5 million in the Blue Apple case.
frustrated escape
The two brothers fled the United States by boat to the Bahamas on June 25, 2020, where they boarded a private plane to travel to Panama. However, since this last country was barred from entry due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they ended up in El Salvador, from where they crossed overland to Guatemala. In this country, they were arrested on July 6, 2020 when they tried to travel to their country on a private flight.
“They were afraid” and “badly advised,” the lawyers explained when they fled the United States when they negotiated an agreement with the judicial authorities.
Luis Enrique Martinelli was extradited to the United States on November 15, 2021. His brother then arrived on December 10th.
US justice accused them of using that country’s banks to commit their “selfish and greedy” fraud.
According to prosecutors, the Martinellis invested $9.5 million of the amount they received from Odebrecht in a mobile phone company in Panama, as well as in stocks and bonds.
Likewise, Luis Enrique Martinelli bought a yacht for $1.7 million and a condo in Miami for $1.3 million, while his brother paid for “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in expenses using his credit card.
On December 21, 2016, Odebrecht pleaded guilty in the same Brooklyn court that convicted the Martinellis of distributing more than $788 million in bribes to government officials, various officials, and political parties, primarily in Latin America, primarily to obtain and to keep infrastructure working.
© 2023 AFP