The anti-corruption prosecutor Anilú Batista began the hearing this Thursday with the individualization of the carriers who, irregularly and with the help of officials from the Land Transit and Transportation Authority (ATTT) and representatives of the concessionaires, received compensation for their buses. type “red devils”, between 2010 and 2014.
On the fourth day of the preliminary hearing, prosecutor Batista alleged that some carriers, in their eagerness to obtain compensation money, brought buses from the interior whose quota had even been withdrawn, despite the fact that they did not have the right. to this benefit, since they provided the service in Santiago, Penonomé, Chiriquí, Los Santos and Chitré.
In his account, Batista explained that the “modus operandi” consisted of the directors of the concessionaires requesting the suspension of the quota, then assigning it to one of the trunk or corridor routes in Panama City and certifying to the ATTT that the bus had several years of providing service on that route.
To allow the change of route, the concessionaire -with the help of ATTT officials- allowed the payment of expired license plates for periods of up to eight years. In a week or 15 days, the carrier received the payment of $25 thousand and $75 thousand.
This Thursday, the prosecutor asked the court to call the first 25 carriers to trial, among whom are women and older adults, some of whom allege that they only lent their names to obtain the operation certificate, since the true owner of the bus was a brother, husband or partner.
The prosecution presented to the court a copy of the checks in which it is stated that the buses were compensated and the documents in which the borrowers canceled the quotas and then the bus was activated on another of the Panama City routes. In addition, he gave details of the sequence of procedures in the ATTT, which show the speed with which the compensation was delivered.
