BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2023) Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, who intends to run for president again in 2024, has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison and the payment of a large fine for money laundering, media reported on Tuesday.
Martinelli, who was Panama's president from 2009-2014, was sentenced to 128 months' imprisonment for money laundering aimed at buying three newspapers: Panama America, Critica, and Dia a Dia, La Estrella de Panama newspaper reported. The results of an investigation conducted by the prosecutor's office showed that the three newspapers with a nationwide circulation had been bought with public funds, the report said.
In addition, the politician will have to pay a fine of $19.2 million to Panama's National Treasury within 12 months, the newspaper said.
The prosecutor's office reportedly asked for a longer term for Martinelli. Twelve other defendants were convicted in the same case, the newspaper said.
Martinelli will also be tried in another money laundering and bribery case, involving Odebrecht S.A., a Brazil-based global construction conglomerate.
The politician also appeared in the so-called Pandora papers, a package of leaked documents published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 2021, which exposed secret offshore accounts of 35 world leaders.
