The Second Liquidator Court of Criminal Cases of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama, will hold the ordinary hearing on the alternate date of May 25 to 27, 2022 at 10:00 am, in the so-called “Floor and Roof” case.
This measure comes after the private technical defense lawyers decided to accept the date described above, as established in article 2197 of the Judicial Code. This ordinary hearing was scheduled to start from this Monday, April 11 to Wednesday, April 13.
The investigation dates back to 2014 and is related to audit reports submitted by the Comptroller General of the Republic, where a possible loss of $1.5 million was established to the detriment of the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning (Miviot), in the case of assistance housing known as “Floor and Roof”.
The Prosecutor’s Office carried out an ocular inspection of the different Miviot regions at the national level, and it was determined that there were companies that left the material in said offices and that they never made it reach the beneficiaries, as established in the purchase orders; In addition, other companies did not deliver the material.
In this criminal case, there are 14 accused citizens; one of them is the former Deputy Minister of Housing, Yasmina Pimentel, and they are accused of allegedly committing a crime against the Public Administration, in the form of Different Forms of Embezzlement, to the detriment of the defunct National Aid Program (PAN).
The Public Ministry is represented by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office; while legal assistance is provided by 9 defense attorneys.
The Court has already appointed 4 alternate public defenders with the purpose of exercising the legal representation of the accused, in the event that their private lawyers do not attend.
