The continuing story of Ricardo Martinelli, his family and trials

[Keith Woolford]

Ricardo Martinelli appeared at a bail hearing today, handcuffed and shackled like any other accused. The judge remanded the ex-president in custody until next Tuesday to give him time to study the case.

 

There is a story in Newsroom that the arrest by the U.S. Marshall's office was moved up a day as it appeared that Martinelli was planning to depart Florida. If the judge hears that, RM could end up in the Dade County lockup for years while he fights extradition.

However, he strikes me as the type who might waive extradition in order to return to Panama where there's greater opportunity to manipulate the system

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/martinelli-arrest-brought-forward-planned-escape

Edited June 13, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[Moderator_02]

Quote

Martinelli arrest brought forward as he planned escape

Posted on June 13, 2017 in Panama

 

Ex-president Martinelli, flanked by his two sons

Post Views: 168

THE ARREST of Ricardo Martinelli in Coral Gables, Miami  on Monday evening, June 12,  was  brought forward because US  marshalls believed that Panama’s former president was preparing to flee, says a CNN Espanol report.

The arrest of Martinelli  was scheduled for today Tuesday  but was moved up a day, CNN reported.

According to the American news network,  US Justice e Department Marshalls were already watching Martinelli.

“When the provisional arrest warrant was issued at 6 p.m. the marshalls who were watching him noticed ‘abnormal behaviour’ that made them believe that Martinelli was preparing to flee. Therefore, the officers made the decision to arrest him immediately, instead of waiting until tomorrow,” the network reported on Monday evening.

Martinelli was scheduled to appear, along with other federal inmates to be informed of the extradition proceedings against him.

A red alert was issued by Interpol following a request from Panama, where the former president is facing charges related to his alleged ordering of illegal surveillance along with numerous corruption and embezzlement charges which he and his shrinking band of followers have labelled political persecution.

Red alerts are still outstanding for his two sons and numerous members of his inner circle who have fled Panama.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/martinelli-arrest-brought-forward-planned-escape

[Moderator_02]

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Martinelli-bochorno-internacional-Balbina-Herrera_21_4779482013.html

[Moderator_02]

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Conozca-proximos-extradicion-Ricardo-Martinelli_21_4779482009.html

[Moderator_02]

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Ricardo-Martinelli_21_4779482008.html

[Keith Woolford]

This is a long but very relevant article concerning the relationship between ex President Ricardo Martinelli and U.S. President Donald Trump.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3067820/trumps-panama-problem?partner=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+(Fast+Company)

Edited June 14, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[Twin Wolf Technology Group]

1 hour ago, Keith Woolford said:

This is a long but very related article concerning the relationship between ex President Ricardo Martinelli and U.S. President Donald Trump.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3067820/trumps-panama-problem?partner=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+(Fast+Company)

Very long read. As expected, there is an anti-Trump and guilt-by-association theme put forward by the writer but it is not over the top like many news articles.  It is nice to get a full history of events to put things in perspective.   I remember much of it as our business group was in discussions to assist with the casino operation.  

Thanks for sharing Keith, I enjoyed it.

[Moderator_02]

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Shackled Martinelli denied bail

Posted on June 13, 2017 in Panama

 

Martinelli leaving his Bricknell Ave building

Post Views: 273

SHACKLED, unshaven and dressed in prison overalls, Panama’s former  president Ricardo Martinelli, shuffled into  a Miami Court on Tuesday, June 13, to hear Federal Judge Edwin G. Torres refuse bail, while a lawyer repeated Martinelli’s “political persecution mantra

He will remain behind bars in a Miami-Dade County Detention Center until a bond hearing, scheduled for June 20.

Martinelli,  was arrested Monday on the basis of an extradition request from  to Panama to respond to charges of illegal surveillance and embezzlement

The Miami Herald reported that Attorney Marcos Jimenez argued that an effort to extradite him was part of a smear campaign by political foes to prevent him from seeking the nation’s top office again.

Jimenez, challenged charges levelled by the Panamanian government that more than $13 million intended for a poverty program had been diverted to pay for a secret surveillance operation that Martinelli used to spy on his political opponents.

“It’s being instigated by the current president [Juan Carlos] Varela],” said Jimenez who questioned the timing of the arrest on an extradition complaint, which he said came after Martinelli declared his intentions to run for a second presidential term.

Jimenez also asked that Martinelli be released on bond and placed under house arrest while awaiting a final decision by U.S. courts on Panama’s extradition request

Jimenez further said the former Panamanian president suffers from poor health and is not a flight risk since he has been living openly in Miami.

“Detention is egregiously improper,” Jimenez, a former U.S. attorney, told the judge in a packed courtroom. The former president, who governed Panama from 2009 to 2014, appeared in court in a khaki jail uniform with his wrists and ankles shackled and looking unshaven.

Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres set a bond hearing for June 20 but cautioned that bail is “a pretty difficult thing to get” in extradition cases.

The former president is accused of intercepting and recording the private conversations of political allies and opponents, judges, journalists, businessmen, union activists, and even his mistress, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Miami, which cited Panama’s extradition request.

Martinelli “created and oversaw a sophisticated program” using national security personnel and equipment purchased with public funds to carry out the surveillance, “learning intimate details” of the personal and professional lives of his targets, according to the complaint, which was unsealed after Martinelli’s arrest.

Martinelli has been charged in Panama with embezzlement, interception of communications, and tracking, persecution and surveillance without judicial authorization, the complaint says. The former president “secretly commandeered” Panama’s National Security Council and created a covert unit that spied on Martinelli’s targets from the top floor of a security council building, according to the complaint.

Sex tapes
The money used to pay for the surveillance system — about $13.4 million — had been allocated to a fund that was supposed to “improve the quality of life for underprivileged persons,” the complaint says. Instead, the funds bankrolled intelligence gathering operations that produced daily reports for Martinelli and sometimes gleaned “particularly sensational audio or video,” including political opponents having sex, that the complaint says Martinelli instructed security personnel to upload to YouTube.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Jimenez questioned the validity of Panama’s extradition request, stating that the extradition treaty between the United States and Panama does not cover the wiretapping charges he faces. The merits of Panama’s extradition request will be heard in federal court later this summer.

Martinelli has maintained that the allegations against him are politically motivated. In a statement issued Monday night, a spokesman for Martinelli said the extradition request is “running its normal course.”

Martinelli fled to the United States in 2015 just days after his country’s Supreme Court opened an investigation into separate allegations that he had helped embezzle $45 million from a government school lunch program. The former president initially settled in the Atlantis, a luxury condominium tower on  Miami’s Brickell Avenue concludes the Miami Herald

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/shackled-martinelli-denied-bail

[Moderator_02]

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/audiencia-Ricardo-Martinelli-indultos-presidenciales_21_4780231930.html

[Moderator_02]

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/etapas-proceso-extradicion_21_4780231932.html

[Uncle Doug]

Donald Trump's previous "cozy" relationship with Martinelli is pretty meaningless. He was cozy with the Clintons and anyone else who could further his interests at the time. 

This arrest could not have happened without the approval of President Trump. I assume the decision was made at the time Varela was invited to the White House. That corresponds with the time Martinelli was put under active US "surveillance." 

The reports that the timing of his arrest was moved up suggests that Martinelli realized that he was no longer safe hiding in plain sight in Miami. It's hard to imagine that he'll be released on bond, although he is certainly entitled to fight extradition in US court. But these recent events certainly indicate to me that Martinelli has no friends in the current US administration,  and that his request for political asylum is effectively dead.

[Keith Woolford]

Here's a report that discusses the possibility of Martinelli acquiescing to extradition. I tend to think he may take this option.

Alvarez: Martinelli could accept voluntary extradition to face Panamanian justice

Attorney Angel Alvarez, who is a plaintiff in the case of wiretapping that follows the former president Ricardo Martinelli, referred this Wednesday at the panorama that could face the Panamanian ex President.

"The expectation is going to be established on the basis of the next hearing in which the judge serving the order of Vanessa Williams of Mr Martinelli may take the ultimate decision on some requests that have been submitted their proxies in the United States, looking to have the arrest is replaced by a bond, although the justice system in the United States generally does not allow the replacement of the arrest for measures of this kind, but there have been exceptional cases where it has been possible," said Alvarez in RPC Radio.

He added, "that the detention of Martinelli as a result of the order of extradition, it may open the possibility of a more expeditious and pending would also be the possibility that Mr. Ricardo Martinelli voluntarily accept the extradition request and return to Panama to face the charges or the process that is developed by this order."

The ex President of Panama was arrested last Monday by federal marshals after a request for extradition by the Panamanian authorities, which was presented in October of 2016.

"Right now what is being discussed is if he should be maintained under arrest or not, after that it will be decided the stages that allow the extradition of Martinelli to Panama," said Alvarez.

http://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/Alvarez-Martinelli-voluntariamente-extradicion-enfrentar_0_1035497343.html

freetranslation

[Moderator_02]

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Piden-Martinelli-enfrente-casos_21_4780981856.html

[Moderator_02]

 

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Martinelli-recibiendo-Embajada-Unidos-Panama_21_4780981857.html

[Jim Bondoux]

Just a couple of random thoughts - one is that this is a much bigger deal in Panama than in the US, and therefore US media coverage and US public opinion won't have much influence on the outcome. The second is that if there is a "deep state" controlling political matters in the US, it involves the CIA, the DEA, and military intelligence, all with known and unknown relationships in Panama, and that is where the fulcrum for this story may well lie.

[Keith Woolford]

1 hour ago, Moderator_02 said:

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Piden-Martinelli-enfrente-casos_21_4780981856.html

Three hots and a cot, which apart from liberty, is more than many of his paisanos have.

[Moderator_02]

Quote

Panama reaction to Martinelli arrest

Posted on June 14, 2017 in Panama

Mitchell Doens and Balbina Herrera.

Post Views: 418

THE ARREST and jailing of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli in Miami Florida has drawn predictably mixed reactions in Panama, and headlines around the world.
CD supporters many of whom are themselves facing trial for corruption or embezzlement were quick to return to the political persecution mantra.

Martinelli fled to Miami over two years ago, where has continued to hold court with his remaining CD Party faithful, while endeavoring to maintain control of his fractious National Assembly deputies and, like President Trump, has endeavoured to get pledges of loyalty while his army of lawyers set up delaying actions in the dozen court actions he is facing.

Balbina Herrera, a former presidential candidate and victim of illegal wiretaps during the government of Martinelli, said: “This has been a long time coming” She said that Martinelli could have avoided what is happening to him if he had faced Panama investigations.

“I think he could have escaped the international embarrassment,” said Herrera, who asked Martinelli to respect due process, “something he did not do to us when he was president.”

Another victim, attorney Rosendo Rivera, said he was pleased that US authorities had decided to accept the extradition request for Martinelli to face justice.

“We hope that the process is handled quickly and in the most appropriate way possible,” said Rivera, although he said that these procedures can take time.
Attorney Miguel Antonio Bernal said that “Martinelli should not have been allowed to leave the country,” which has delayed the matter.

Bernal commented that, like many other Panamanians, he expects Martinelli, and others involved in acts of corruption, to face justice, nut he questioned what he considers a lack of spirit on the part of the Panamanian authorities in achieving this.

Mitchell Doens, a former general secretary of the PRD and also a iretap victim. said that Martinelli’s detention in Miami is “a very important step” in order to finally face Panamanian justice. But he also added the process is just beginning. Doens acknowledged that this may take several days or weeks, but he hopes that “in the end this will be resolved in favor of all those who were victims.”

Martinelli has access to his lawyers but not to television. It is unclear if he is able to continue his daily Twitter barrage.

Meanwhile his spin doctor and lawyer Eduardo Camacho is hitting the persecution trail, while others are hot footing it to Miami where they are sure to be well rewarded if the extradition process drags on.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/panama-reaction-martinelli-arrest

[Moderator_02]

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Procesos-Martinelli-CSJ-estancados_21_4781731780.html

[Moderator_02]

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Lawyers try to block arrest of Martinelli sons

Posted on June 17, 2017 in Panama

 

On the run while lawyers bombard courts

Post Views: 211

WHILE ex-president Ricardo Martinelli sits in a Miami detention center awaiting an extradition hearing  the lawyers of his two sons have initiated a blizzard of court interventions in place in an attempt to block their arrest by Interpol.
At least 4 habeas corpus, 2 amparos of constitutional guarantees and 14 incidents of nullity and controversy have been presented by the defense of Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares, as part of the investigation into the bribes paid by Odebrecht through Banks in Switzerland.
The highly paid attorneys seek the annulment of the process, to ignore the competence of the Special Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office to issue the preventive detention order of the accused, and the release of property seized within the judicial process.
The most recent habeas corpus arrived at the plenary of the Supreme Court on June 12 . It is located in the office of Judge Luis Ramón Fábrega, who already revised two habeas corpus of the children of the ex-president.
The latest  habeas corpus was presented by attorney Luis Eduardo Camacho González, who is also spin doctor for Ricardo Martinelli and the CD Party and seeks to declare that the prosecution is incompetent to issue precautionary measures against the brothers.
In addition, in the Court there are 2 amparos of constitutional guarantees and in the Special Court atached to the 17th Ciminal Court at least 14 incidents of controversy and nullity.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/lawyers-try-block-arrest-martinelli-sons

[Moderator_02]

Quote

Martinelli demands his release in the US for “invalid” order of arrest

Sun, 06/18/2017 - 14:53

Martinelli demands his release in the US for “invalid” order of arrest

The ex-president of Panama Ricardo Martinelli requested his "immediate" release to a judge of USA, after arguing that the arrest warrant presented by Panama in his extradition request is "invalid" and "undue".

Martinelli´s attorneys, asked the judge Edwin Torres  “dismiss the complaint” against the former President.

Last Tuesday, Martinelli came to the first hearing before the judge Torres, who denied freedom to him on bail and informed him of the beginning of a extradition judgement for supposed crimes of illegal interception and illicit enrichment.

Nevertheless, according to a motion presented by the attorneys John Richard Byrne and Marcos Daniel Jiménez, representatives of the arrested, Martinelli's capture is "unconstitutional".

The defense added that the Government of Panama alludes in the arrest warrant to the "rebelliousness", which "does not make part of thirteen valid crimes " recorded in the agreement of extradition signed by USA and Panama in 1904.

The attorneys indicate in the motion that "they" think that the "contempt" that argues Panama is for Martinelli's reluctance of appearing to the Panamanian Justice.

Panama "simply has arranged his detention for reasons of contempt, for lack of appearance, something that is not even a crime in the Panama´s Penal Code", indicates the document.

"The court must dismiss the complaint and arrange the immediate liberation of the president Martinelli, because there is no an arrest warrant of Panama based on the supposed extraditable crimes", is added by him.

In the motion, the attorneys qualified as "defective" the arrest warrant and requested a "hearing of emergency" to discuss the situation.

Nevertheless, the District attorney's office of The United States, which represents the Government of Panama, asked the federal judge to treat the matter in the hearing foreseen for the next Tuesday.

 

http://www.panamatoday.com/panama/martinelli-demands-his-release-us-invalid-order-arrest-4561

[Moderator_02]

Quote

Life’s ups and downs for fugitive Martinelli

Posted on June 19, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 22

 Fugitive ex-president Ricardo Martinelli’s  $8.2 million mansion in Coral Gables,  Miami is a stark contrast to his current  11 ft by 6 ft cell in a Federal Detention Center where he has no access to TV, radio, computers Twitter or visitors.

A La Prensa cartoonist’s impression of the lifestyle change

If,  after  his extradition to Panama, he is found guilty of illegal  wiretapping of  150 political opponents, judges,  journalists and businessmen,  he could face 21 years in  Panama’s El Renacer prison, with slightly less onerous conditions than Miami,  but far removed from those at the oceanfront mansion in one of Miami’s most exclusive residential neighborhoods.

The three-floor  mansion has 9,332 square feet of construction, a pool, parking for four vehicles and a dock

Martinelli has been detained since Monday, June 12, by order of Judge Edwin Torres of the South District of Florida Court.

According to internet sites dedicated to the real estate business, the mansion was acquired on July 8 last year for $ 8.2 million.

The transaction was closed a month and a half after Panama’s Supreme Court Supreme Court (CSJ) sent to the Chancellery the documents supporting the request for extradition of the former president to answer to charges of unauthorized interception of communications by the National Security Council, during his term.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/lifes-ups-downs-fugitive-president

[Keith Woolford]

The Judge who is hearing this case has booked the courtroom for an extra day as the number of motions and affidavits from both sides keeps building. 

http://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/judicial/Audiencia-Martinelli-podria-extenderse-hasta-miercoles-21-junio_0_4783771624.html

The District Attorney for The Southern District of Florida is asking that Martinelli be held without bail while his extradition is processed.

http://www.telemetro.com/internacionales/EEUU-mantener-detenido-Martinelli-extradicion_0_1036997027.html

Edited June 20, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[Keith Woolford]

Purcait seeks to meet with judge and prosecutor of the process against Martinelli in Miami

Ricardo Richards | 19 Jun 2017 08.30pm

http://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/Purcait-Miami-participar-audiencia-Martinelli_3_1037026334.html

The ex-deputy of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) and one of the complainants in the case of the interceptions of communication intercepts, Yassir Purcait, traveled to Miami, United States, to participate in the hearing of the Panamanian ex head of state Ricardo Martinelli .

"We came here to see the audience and to be a witness of how the process of justice against the ex president Ricardo Martinelli," said Purcait, who at the same time said he hired a lawyer that is handling a meeting with the prosecutor and the judge in the case, and with whom sent a letter through his assistant.

The ex-deputy pointed out that, as in Panama, the former president's Lawyers are attempting to implement tactics, which has been the common denominator of his defense from in all the cases against him, however, the US has a different jurisdiction and the judge will evaluate the allegations strictly.

He indicated that the ideal solution for the former president, who in his view in this whole process has "humiliated" Panama and Panamanians, he must access a voluntary extradition as fast as possible to face justice where his guilt or innocence will be determined.

During the hearing this Tuesday,* Judge Edwin Torrres should issue a statement on a bond for release and a motion to dismiss the extradicon Martinelli to Panama.

http://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/Purcait-Miami-audiencia-Martinelli-reunirse_0_1036997380.html

* the hearing may extend until Wednesday

[Keith Woolford]

Follow up story from the same source is here. Basically this is about one of the complainants who hopes to participate in the hearing.

There are also reports of Martinelli supporters heading to Miami.

English?   freetranslation.com

http://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/Querellante-pinchazos-acceder-audiencia-Miami_0_1037296430.html

Edited June 20, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[Keith Woolford]

Judge Edwin Torres suspended ex-president Martinelli's bail hearing in Miami today and ordered that he continue to be held in detention. A decision regarding his potential release will be made in the coming weeks.

The reason for suspending the case was centred on the number of submissions which have been filed with the Court by both parties.

http://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/judicial/Continua-agonia-Ricardo-Martinelli-suspenden-audiencia-EEUU-reanudara-este-miercoles_0_4784521561.html

Edited June 20, 2017 by Keith Woolford