The Mexican businessman was confiscated 18 million dollars, homes and luxury cars in Panama for allegedly being drug money.
The life of a Mexican businessman dedicated to manufacturing technology for computers and smartphones took an unexpected turn in 2019. This Mexican-born developer was invited by the Panamanian government to invest and create jobs, but now he is persecuted and discriminated against by the Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime of Panama, who accuses him of laundering drug money for being Mexican.
The misfortune of the Mexican investor, who asked to remain anonymous, began on a cold night in December 2019, when he was detained for more than 36 hours by immigration agents upon his arrival at Panama’s Tocumen International Airport while trying to enter the country. where he resided with his family.
That day, the businessman, who bought 10 luxury vehicles and two apartments to live in an urban oasis in Panama, was cut off from his family and legal team, as well as denied medical assistance for allegedly being a different subject from his A person with a nationality other than Mexican and under psychological torture was intimidated into keeping silent, according to documents that Forbes Mexico had access to.
After 36 hours in inhumane conditions, when the officials verified his data and documents, the immigration authority did not prove the existence of any crime, arrest warrant, or presentation against him, therefore, without legal grounds, they prevented him from accessing Panama and they repatriated him directly on a flight to Mexico, where, in accordance with the law, they verified and confirmed his identity and Mexican nationality.
Once in Mexico, he hired a team of lawyers to defend him from the arbitrariness of which he was a victim, and he was surprised that he was being investigated for money laundering in Panama.
The investigation in Panama generated the assurance of all his assets, including his house and resources, a situation that he faced through digital means before various judges, who are part of the same country that prevented him from accessing to defend himself, as a necessary condition of due process.
In July 2020, the businessman learned that his bank accounts insured in Scotiabank and Banistmo that contain assets of more than 18 million dollars, were improperly transferred to a Panamanian bank, for the generation of interest for the benefit of third parties, a situation ordered by the prosecutor Sonia Almengor.
Salvador Padilla, the businessman’s legal representative, pointed out that said movement constitutes an evident violation of due process and legal security.
“Everyone is bothered by the presumption of innocence, until they are charged. Especially when the issue is again that being Mexican and having demonstrated professional success, one is necessarily a drug trafficker or corrupt and that should not be allowed for any son of the country. “
“The arrest warrant is based on an investigation folder in Mexico, which has been concluded by way of not exercising criminal action, that is, a closed investigation for the benefit of my client,” says Padilla.
Said money laundering investigation is a copy or consequence of a generalized investigation initiated by Andorra, against Mexicans who had their assets in that country, since apparently there was a great relationship between the former attorney Kenia Porcell, and the Andorran Prosecutor .
Since the beginning of the persecution, the businessman has voluntarily faced virtual hearings before the Judicial Power of Panama, but prosecutors Marcos Mosquera de la Guarda and Isis Soto have maintained that the businessman is a money launderer.
All these statements are lies and discrimination generated by the antipathy against the Mexican with resources, since the prosecutors have not exhibited any proof that the businessman is a drug trafficker, it is the abuse of freedom of expression, a situation that is punished in Panama as a crime, it is a very serious defamation that lacks support.
The defense of the Mexican businessman has demonstrated, as required by the money laundering criminal offense, all the evidence that supports the origin of the businessman’s resources and their legal origin, through contracts, accounting and other legal acts.
The Panamanian prosecutor’s office issued an arrest warrant against the Mexican, who was expelled from Panama and who has had his assets insured for more than a year.
The arrest warrant is unconstitutional and illegal because it is unjustified and disproportionate, since the State of Panama denied the businessman access to its territory, as well as deprived him of the possibility of appearing in person to defend himself.
The businessman has always been in the virtual audiences that are required of him, and has shown a subjection to the process, consenting to said arrest warrant is an absurdity as great as punishing a person for not being at home, when he was prevented enter it, said Padilla.
On December 18, 2020, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) reported that the Mexican businessman accused of laundering money from drug trafficking was not in custody due to the investigation by the Principality of Andorra and the Panama Prosecutor’s Office.
A document from the entity in charge of Alejandro Gerzt Manero indicates that the investor had not been summoned to appear as a defendant nor is he subject to an act of nuisance.
The investigation folder with the number FED / CDMX / SZS / 0010671/2017 has the status of concluded since it was determined by the non-exercise of criminal action since May 29, 2019, added the FGR.
Source: forbes.com.mx
