Context

Ricardo Martinelli, a former millionaire and conservative, was the president of Panama from 2009 to 2014. Martinelli, the former owner of the major chain of supermarkets in Panama, surprised the country when he announced his intentions of running for elections (Peregil, 2009).

Fact: Who gave what to whom and why?

Martinelli was accused of embezzlement and interception and disclosure of electronic communications (Prensa, 2019).

These crimes add up to 21 years of prison and are related as he was accused of embezzling public funds to create a web of espionage in order to obtain information of around 150 people among them politician and dissidents (Proceso, 2018).

According to local newspaper “La prensa”, Martinelli invested USD $13.4 million in the acquisition of an espionage equipment supposedly capable of reaching electronic communications of any cellphone and saving video and audio files (Universal, 2019).

In 2015, Martinelli fled to Miami in order to avoid being investigated but on June 12^th of 2018 was arrested and extradited to Panama.When he arrived to Panama, he was incarcerated in a maximum security facility but was later put on house arrest (Universal, 2019).

Nonetheless, on August 10^{th of} 2019 a court in Panama declared Martinelli not guilty of the charges of embezzlement and espionage and order his immediate release (Universal, 2019).

Applicable Law

• Criminal Code of Panama

Why the case is relevant?

This case still has a lot of relevance as his acquittal occurred recently and the victim’s lawyers are trying to appeal the court’s decision (Universal, 2019). For that reason, it is necessary to kept up with Martinelli’s case in order to scrutinize the final result.

Lessons learned

The lesson learned in this case is that countries in Latin America such as Panama are more interested in making their countries more transparent rather than ignoring politician’s corruption charges. Even though Martinelli was declared not guilty, this case adds up to the number of former public officials that have been accused of corruption charges. As a result, if this tendency continues, we can expect strengthened democratic states and more transparency.

What type of corruption is it and what are the crimes involved?

First, this is a case of political and grand corruption due to the fact  institutions were manipulated in the allocation of resources and financing (Convention, s.f.). Martinelli manipulated the Panama’s Security Council to syphon off resources to allegedly obtain espionage equipment and be able to intercept politician’s and dissident’s communications (Abogados, s.f.).

Secondly, Martinelli was accused of embezzlement, which occurs when a public official uses resources that he or she was entrusted with in a dishonest and illegal fashion for his or her personal enrichment (Abogados, s.f.). Martinelli used these resources allegedly to obtain the espionage equipment mentioned.

References (Harvard – Anglia)

Abogados, D., s.f. Glosario de Derecho Anticorrupción. [Online]
Available at: Ebook

Proceso, 2018. Proceso. [Online]
Available at: https://bit.ly/2k0QIIc

Convention, U. N., s.f. Grand Corruption occurs when. [Online]
Available at: Grand corruption occurs when. [Ebook]. Oficina de las Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito. Recuperado de https://bit.ly/2momz6s

Prensa, L., 2019. The New York Times. [Online]
Available at: https://www.prensa.com/judiciales/delitos-Martinelli-enfrentaria-anos-prision_0_5369463019.html

Universal, E., 2019. El Universal. [Online]
Available at: https://bit.ly/2k0QQaE

Prensa, L., 2014. Diario Exterior. [Online]
Available at: https://bit.ly/2ksGwZd

Peregil, F., 2009. El País. [Online]
Available at: https://elpais.com/diario/2009/05/10/domingo/1241927557_850215.html

Universal, E., 2019. El Universal. [Online]
Available at: https://bit.ly/2kg0EOh