Odebrecht Case: Panama withdraws US$600 million lawsuit against Credicorp Bank

This Monday, the Panamanian State withdrew a civil lawsuit for US$600 million against the local bank Credicorp Bank, for “damages” derived from the corruption plot Odebrecht.

“This morning the civil action that mentions our institution has been withdrawn, in relation to the case against Constructora Odebrecht SA. We reiterate that there is no lawsuit against Credicorp Bank related to this case nor are we part of any judicial process“, indicated the banking institution in a statement.

Likewise, the Panamanian newspaper La Prensa published the judicial document received this Monday by the Judicial Branch, in which the Ministry of Public Security requests the withdrawal of the lawsuit filed on September 8, according to official documents released this weekend by local media.

The bank had been sued in its capacity as “third party civilly responsible for the corresponding compensation for damages and losses due to the punishable conduct of the gentlemen Humberto Javier de León and Eduardo Lucio Patraoformer collaborators of Credicorp Bank“, indicates the judicial document presented this Monday.

De León and Patrao reached an agreement on effective collaboration and punishment with the Panamanian Prosecutor’s Office for the Odebrecht case and were sentenced to 60 and 48 months, respectively, for the crime of money laundering, according to the Panamanian newspaper.

The Ministry of Public Security also sued civilly for “material and moral damages caused to the State” to former presidents Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) and Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019), in addition to other defendants in the Odebrecht case, whose trial will begin this September 27 after being postponed last July.

Martinelli is required to pay US$159 million in compensation and Varela US$30 million, according to local press data.

The Ministry of Security has not released details of the civil lawsuits, but in a statement on Sunday said that it had “initiated the presentation of the corresponding restorative actions on behalf of the National Government”.

“Proceedings will be taken against all those who were charged for their participation in these events (the Odebrecht plot) in order to ensure the recognition and safeguarding of the best interests of the State.“, indicated the statement from the Panamanian Security portfolio.

Among those charged in the case Odebrecht In Panama there are Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, sons of former Panamanian president Martinelli, who confessed in the United States that they transferred 28 million dollars in bribes from Odebrecht on “the father’s orders,” and paid jail time for it in the North American country.

Both will be prosecuted in the Supreme Court and not in the ordinary Justice, given that they are substitute deputies of the Central American Parliament.

Source: EFE