A contract worth 4.8 million dollars, awarded by the Ministry of Health (MINSA) for the holding of a world conference on tobacco, was reported to the Attorney General’s Office for the alleged crimes of fraud in public procurement, illicit association, ideological falsehood and against computer security.
This is the contract that the MINSA awarded to the company SMG Latin America LLC, which manages the Panama Convention Center, for the organization of the Tenth Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organization (WHO), which took place during the first half of February.
The Cabinet Council of former President Laurentino Cortizo’s government approved the contract on January 10, 2024, and the Comptroller General’s Office endorsed it on February 2. However, according to the complaint filed with the Attorney General’s Office, the process was not transparent and due process was not followed, while the participation of other bidders was prevented.
The complaint was filed on September 13 against whoever is responsible. The legal action was filed by the president of the Association of Smokers and Families for a Smoke-Free Panama, Hitler Cigarruista, and is based on the crimes classified in articles 290, 291, 329, 364, 365, 366 and 366-a of the Penal Code.
The contract mentioned in the complaint was carried out through an exceptional procedure between the MINSA and the company that operates the Panama Convention Center, and according to the complainant, the principles of transparency, equality and free competition, fundamental pillars in the procedures for selecting contractors by the State, were violated.
Among the evidence provided, it is noteworthy that the exceptional procedure act was not published on the Panama Compra portal within the legal period, but that the system would have been subsequently modified in an “illegal” manner to include this documentation dated October 2023, despite the fact that it was not available a few days before the start of COP10 in February of this year.
