Panama - February 2024

The Supreme Court confirmed former President Ricardo Martinelli’s conviction for money laundering as well as his 10.5-year sentence.  The Court’s ruling results in Martinelli’s ineligibility to run in Panama’s upcoming presidential elections, given that the sentence imposes more than five years imprisonment. Martinelli had won the primaries of his political party, Realizando Metas, last June. The ruling comes days before electoral campaigns officially commenced and is related to Martinelli’s involvement in corruption schemes for which he had been arrested years prior in the United States and subsequently extradited. He is the first former president of Panama to be convicted for money laundering.  

Sources: La Prensa Panamá, France 24