MEXICO CITY: Panama’s Supreme Criminal Court has confirmed the July conviction of former president Ricardo Martinelli (pix), who was sentenced to 10 years and 8 months in prison for money laundering, Sputnik quoted Panamanian media reports on Wednesday.
The court also confirmed the additional fine of US$19.2 million, as well as the sentences of other convicts in the New Business case, the La Estrella de Panama newspaper reported.
On July 17, Martinelli, who is currently the presidential candidate of his Realizando Metas (Realising Goals) party, was found guilty of buying Panama’s three major newspapers with public funds in 2010. The shares and all assets of this company are to be confiscated in favour of the state, according to the court’s ruling.
Martinelli will also be tried in another money laundering and bribery case, involving Odebrecht S.A, a Brazil-based global construction conglomerate.
The politician also appeared in the so-called Pandora Papers, a package of leaked documents published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 2021, which exposed secret offshore accounts of 35 world leaders. –Bernama
