Ex-Minister draws 16-year jail term

Panama’s former Minister of Public Works, José Federico Suárez, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for crimes against public administration, for different forms of embezzlement related to road projects carried out in Panama’s capital city.

The sentence issued by the First Liquidation Court of Criminal Cases of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama ,  declared Suárez criminally responsible as the perpetrator of the crime.

The court also imposed a 16-year ban on holding public office, counted once the main sentence has been served.

In addition, the court denied several motions to dismiss for lack of prosecution, as well as a motion to dismiss filed by the defendants’ lawyers.

This would be the second conviction for Suárez. On January 14, the Superior Court for the Liquidation of Criminal Cases overturned the lower court’s ruling and sentenced the former Minister to eight years in prison for the crime of embezzlement, to the detriment of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP).