The preliminary hearing for the so-called “Red Devils bus compensation” case began this Monday at the Roberto Durán Gymnasium and is in charge of Ms. Agueda Rentería of the First Liquidator Court of Criminal Cases of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama.
This case follows a total of 543 defendants for the alleged commission of the crime against the public administration, to the detriment of the Land Transit and Transportation Authority (ATTT).
For the preliminary hearing, which is scheduled until May 13, 2022, more than 700 people were notified, including defendants, prosecutors, plaintiffs and defenders.
The Superior Anticorruption Prosecutor, Anilú Batista, explained that the Public Ministry is prepared to support its fiscal hearing for the crime against the public administration in the form of embezzlement.
The tax hearing against 543 people will be held today, including former officials, carriers and representatives of concessionaires or borrowers. Already in the tax hearing, a provisional and definitive dismissal was requested and also a call for trial and it will be sustained today. There are enough elements that were collected in this investigation to be able to support this request made by the Public Ministry, in this case against 61 officials,” said prosecutor Batista.
It is worth mentioning that on February 23, the General Accounts Prosecutor’s Office (FGE) asked the Court of Auditors to summon 262 people to trial for their alleged involvement in the Red Devils compensation case, where a possible patrimonial injury to B /. 24 million. Of this total, 224 are natural persons, five legal persons, five auditors, seven former ATTT officials and 21 concessionaires.
This investigation began as a result of irregularities detected in the payment of compensation to owners of Diablos Rojos buses that provided service in the districts of Panama and San Miguelito, before the implementation of the Administrative Rescue Process of the Collective Public Passenger Transport System for the Implementation of the New Mass Mobilization System in the metropolitan area.
The entry into force of the new Metro Bus system in Panama and San Miguelito implied the withdrawal of buses known as Diablos Rojos, for which the Government established compensation between B/.25,000.00 and B/.75,000.00 for carriers.
Although the investigation was about compensation related to the metropolitan transportation system, the investigation covered, in addition to the province of Panama, the provinces of Chiriquí, Veraguas, Coclé, Darién and Los Santos.
