Prosecutors in New York said Monday that they are opposed to advancing the sentencing of the two sons of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, accused of money laundering, because they are analyzing the position of the Panamanian government, which argues that it is a victim in the case and therefore you should receive monetary restitution.
Prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York said in a letter to a federal court judge in Brooklyn that they are seeking and analyzing information regarding the position of the government of Panama, which has said it considers itself a “victim of crime” and asks that it that “the money from the crimes” of Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Martinelli Linares be returned.
Both pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to launder bribery money from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. They are expected to be sentenced by a judge in May but both have asked for the sentence to be carried out earlier.
Both brothers face charges of conspiring with others to launder approximately $28 million in bribes from Odebrecht to a high-ranking official in Panama who is a close relative of the defendants, the United States says. The senior official in Panama was from 2009 to 2014, says the prosecution.
Ricardo Martinelli was president of Panama between 2009 and 2014, during a period of rapid economic growth marred by allegations of alleged corruption. The former president was arrested in Miami in 2017 and subsequently extradited to his country to face accusations of alleged espionage against politicians and journalists, of which he was acquitted. The former president aspires to compete for power again in 2024.
Prosecutors in New York said in their letter Monday that issues like restitution should be resolved at sentencing, but lawyers for the Martinelli brothers have said restitution could be discussed after sentencing.
The Martinelli brothers are accused in the United States because much of the money laundering was done through accounts in New York banks. The construction company Odebrecht pleaded guilty in 2016 in the eastern district of New York to being involved in a bribery and money laundering scandal. The construction company paid more than 700 million dollars in bribes to government officials, political parties and others in Panama and other countries in exchange for maintaining business and contracts.
With information from the AP International News Agency.
