Former Panama President, His 2 Sons Barred From US For Corruption

A former Panamanian President and his two sons have been barred from traveling to the United States after it was found that they had participated in “significant corruption.”

Ricardo Martinelli, the former Panamanian President, has been banned by the U.S. State Department from ever traveling to the United States. According to the U.S. State Department, Martinelli had participated in “significant corruption” in awarding government contracts during his tenure as president. The ban from ever traveling to the United States also applied to two of the former president’s sons, Associated Press News reported.

Martinelli's son recently returned to Panama after completing prison sentences in the United States for laundering millions of dollars in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

“Martinelli accepted bribes in exchange for improperly awarding government contracts during his tenure as the president” from 2009 to 2014, the State Department said in a statement.

The sons, Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Martinelli Linares, who laundered millions of dollars in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht arrived back in Panama on Wednesday, Jan. 25 evening.

Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Martinelli Linares will be among 36 people going on trial in August for the Odebrecht scandal. They are accused of laundering millions of dollars in bribes paid by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht during their father’s tenure as president from 2009 to 2014, El Paso Inc. reported.

Their father Martinelli and another former Panamian president, Juan Carlos Varela, also await trial in the same case. However, the elder Martinelli son hopes to run for re-election in the 2024 national elections.

Attorney General Javier Caraballo said that his office has high expectations to see the two Martinelli brothers face justice in Panama. The brothers reportedly paid about a $14 million bond in advance of their arrival to avoid being detained in Panama.

Before coming back to Panama, the brother served three-year sentences in the United States for conspiring to launder about $28 million in bribes from Odebrecht.

Meanwhile, before being extradited to the United States, they were reportedly held in Guatemala for around 23 months.