© Portal. Prosecutors are seeking the conviction of 28 of the 32 defendants in the Lava Jato money laundering case in Panama
Panama City, June 30 (.).- This Friday, prosecutors requested that 28 people be convicted and four employees of the defunct Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, epicenter of the Panama Papers scandal, acquitted in the case trial. According to local media and the Judicial Branch (OJ), 32 money laundering defendants are involved in the Lava Jato case.
The second specialized prosecutor against organized crime, Isis Soto, explained the level of involvement of 24 of the accused, the criminal requests for each one and asked the second liquidation judge, Baloísa Marquínez, who is presiding over this process, about the sentences for 20 of them and the acquittal of four.
Soto had earlier on Thursday requested the fines for the law firm’s two owners and partners, for the person who ran the firm’s subsidiary in Brazil, and for the attorney in charge of clients’ bank accounts abroad.
After the involvement of the prosecution, the phase of defense arguments began with attorney Guillermina McDonald representing five defendants, including the owners and partners of the law firm under investigation.
McDonald argued that the Public Ministry (MP) had not presented convincing evidence, so he asked the judge to acquit his clients.
FROM BRAZIL TO PANAMA
Juergen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca, founding partners of the missing law firm that is the epicenter of the Panama Papers scandal, pleaded not guilty to prison on Monday at the start of the trial in the Lava Jato case, for which they face a money laundering penalty of at least 5 years.
Both are among 32 people charged with alleged money laundering, which carries a prison sentence of between 5 and 12 years plus aggravating circumstances under Article 254 of the Panama Penal Code.
The investigation into this case began in 2016 “due to news events related to the ‘Lava Jato’ operation in Brazil, which allegedly established a link to a law firm in Panama dedicated to the formation of companies,” the judicial authority recalled.
The organized crime prosecutor alleges that the Mossack Fonseca company allegedly provided “legal and financial structures to hide money from illegal activities” linked to “Lava Jato” in Brazil.
Fifteen testimonies were presented at the hearing, which began Monday, June 26.
The witnesses were questioned by the lawyers involved in this trial and by representatives of Parliament, prosecutors Octavio Nicolau and Marcos Mosquera, who specialize in the fight against organized crime.
In June 2022, Marquínez, then head of the Third Liquidation Court, issued the “preliminary discharge in favor of 39 individuals and a final discharge for one additional person” in the Lava Jato case.
But last October, a higher court overturned the dismissal decision and opened criminal proceedings against 32 people on appeal by the deputy.
All of the defendants in the case pleaded not guilty and their defense attorneys appealed the arguments in the court order ordering the release at first instance.