Moderators Moderator_02 Posted September 2, 2018 Moderators Share Posted September 2, 2018 Moderator comment: Again there appears to be poor proofreading, as this article seems to end in mid-sentence. That is not an error on our part, but actually what was published in the source article. Quote Lawmaker faces $5 million embezzlement hearing Posted on September 1, 2018 in Panama Carlos Tito Afu Post Views: 120 CD deputy Carlos Tito Afú one of Panama’s most controversial lawmakers, accused of using nearly $5 million of state funds to assure his continued access to the National Assembly cookie jar in 2014, is facing judgment by the Supreme Court after a fifth criminal judge, forwarded the file containing details of his alleged embezzlement The case originated with the Electoral Tribunal annulment of Afu’s election in Las Tablas for using state resources for his campaign. The decision was taken by judge Enrique Paniza when ruling on a request from the Anticorruption Public Prosecutor’s Office to join the case involving Afú with one related to the audits of the communal boards of the whole country where multi-millions of state money were siphoned off for dubious or non-existent projects. Paniza was inhibited from joining the two cases but decided to send the one related specifically to Afu to the higher court. The complaint originated with the decision of the Electoral Tribunal (TE) to annul the proclamation of Tito Afú as a deputy in the May 2014 elections after verifying that he used almost $5 million of state funds for his political campaign, and a new election was called. Afú, who had spent years oiling the local political scene where gifts to voters shine more brightly than policies defeated Díaz again and was re-elected for the period 2014-2019. The complaint that Diaz originally brought was to the Anticorruption Office of the Public Ministry which asked the Fifth Criminal Court to merge the file with the one related to the investigation of the communal boards in both cases for alleged embezzlement. In an August 16 ruling, the process related to Afú was sent to the plenary of the Supreme Court where cases https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/lawmaker-faces-5-million-embezzlement-hearing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted January 19 Moderators Share Posted January 19 Quote A shameful stain on Panama’s history Tito Afu displayed bribes in the National Assembly received by deputies. Posted 18/01/2024 It is a dark and shameful page in our history. The Cemis case was closed by the Panamanian justice system with pain and without glory. A legislator who revealed the payment of bribes in exchange for the approval of a bill 22 years ago shook the country, but most of its actors are still active in politics, as current as then: they are advisors, activists, magistrates, presidential candidates and another, president of the Republic. It is unfortunate that with so much evidence, confessions, testimonies and documents that proved the illegal acts, there was never justice. It is a stain that will haunt those involved all their lives, including the judges of the Supreme Court of that time, who lent themselves to a great farce that in the end ended in blatant impunity. Testimonies of innocence – outside the context of a public trial – are unimportant, because trying to convince public opinion of the alleged innocence must necessarily go through a judicial process that, in this case, did not exist. It only served as a cover for those involved to escape unscathed, a maneuver that, despite everything, did not achieve its objective because, regardless of the time, they are always told: "There goes one of the Cemis case." - LA PRENSA, Jan. 18. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/a-shameful-stain-on-panamas-history Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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