Former Panama VP arrested in corruption probe
The former vice president of Panama, Felipe Virzi, has been arrested on charges of money laundering in an ongoing investigation.
Virzi allegedly reaped millions of dollars for illegally assisting a company to win a government contract.
He was the vice president of Panama from 1994 to 1999, spending a total of five years in public office in the Central American country.
Virzi was the business partner of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli, who himself in being investigated by authorities on similar charges.
Anti-corruption prosecutors, who were investigating the case, ordered Virzi's arrest on Wednesday.
Investigators claim that Virzi received a USD 10-million payment from an Ecuadoran company for helping it win an irrigation system contract. He was reportedly no longer vice president at the time of the alleged payment.
After receiving the funds, prosecutors said, Virzi distributed the money among various private and business accounts linked to Martinelli.
"They say it is money laundering. But there was no money laundering, even if you accept the premise on which the accusations are based," Virzi's lawyer, Jose Maria Castillo, told reporters.
According to prosecutors, the government paid the company more than USD 37 million while the former VP was acting as a middle man.
Virzi's arrest came after similar arrests of several former ministers and close associates of Martinelli, who was president of Panama from 2009 to 2014.
The 63-year-old Martinelli is also under investigation by Panama's Supreme Court on allegations that he inflated contracts through community programs during his tenure in office.
Earlier this year, Martinelli said the corruption charges against him were an attempt by current President Juan Carlos Varela to defame him.
In February, Martinelli left Panama after the charges against him were revealed by authorities.
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