Panama leader denies Italy bribery accusations
Source: Agence France-Presse
Panama leader denies Italy bribery accusations
April 21, 2012
PANAMA CITY: Panama’s President Ricardo Martinelli has denied his government received bribes from a fugitive linked to a sex and corruption case involving former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Newspaper editor Valter Lavitola, arrested in Naples this week upon his arrival from Argentina, is under investigation for having allegedly bribed Panama officials, Italy’s Corriere della Sera has reported.
Lavitola, who was arrested in connection with a ring accused of supplying prostitutes to Berlusconi, allegedly handed members of the Panama government suitcases full of cash to secure construction contracts for third parties.
Martinelli adamantly denied the accusations, calling them a “journalistic invention aimed at tarnishing my image and the image of Panama,” during a press conference late on Thursday.
Read more: http://gulftoday.ae/portal/b5f2906d-4afc-4013-b65d-d29345319329.aspx
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Panama's Ricardo Martinelli [/center]