Noticia de Panama
The personal secretary of ex-president Martinelli who carried verbal orders to corrupt administration officials increased his wealth from $4.11 to a $4.7 million, in five years before fleeing the country on Christmas Day. 2015.
Adolfo ‘Chichi’ De Obarrio got his job as the secretary with a salary of $5,000 a month, a big jump for a 28-year-old who was scratching out a living on $1,000. a month.
In the five years he served his master ($2019-2014) he grew to become a symbol of extravagant living, including a $182,000 wedding, attended by Martinelli, his wife and sons.
The secretary purchased gold ingots and coins for $759,000, acquired farms, luxury vehicles, several apartments and a beach house He also spent at least $8,000 at the Cartier Panama store and another $18,000 at Mercurio Jewelers and registered $500,000 in credit card payments.
He managed his new wealth with 15 bank accounts and could not justify $3.6 million, according to an audit of Panama’s Comptroller General which showed that his wedding with Yvette Barsallo Fábrega cost $182.000 of which $165,000 went to the Trump Ocean Club, where the event was held.
The audit showed that his patrimony increased $ 4.7 million, of which $ 1.1 million came from known sources and the remaining $3.6 million was not sustained. The audit covered July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2015.
The Chichi De Obarrio bonanza began after he began his duties as Martinelli’s private secretary and institutional director of the Ministry of the Presidency.
The details of the audit are in the tax hearing prepared by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office which aims to prosecute him for the alleged commission of the crime of unjustified enrichment. In addition, the prosecution called for his wife and his mother, to be tried.
The prosecution also called for the appearance of businessmen Mike and Gabriel Btesh, (both have disappeared) and María Alessandra Salerno, daughter of businessman Cristóbal Salerno.
The audit highlights that De Obarrio obtained $ 1.1 million from known sources. For example, $295,000 for salaries, representation expenses and the thirteenth-month payment; while $259,000 was added from wedding gifts.
He also obtained a loan of $150,000 for the purchase of an apartment in Icon Tower in San Francisco and earned $14,570 in interest from bank accounts.
Between December 2009 and July 2010, De Obarrio made purchases of precious metals -gold coins and bullion- for $759,000 according to a report contributed by Credicorp Bank for the audit.
The bank report states that seven of the purchases made by De Obarrio in gold and coins totaled $453,000. Appearing as “clients” are Martinelli Berrocal and four other legal entities.
of the total gold purchases, 51% was paid by cash. On the same day, on July 28, 2010, he made purchases for $117,00 In addition, and bought a farm from Bianco Loft 4, S.A., for $900,000.
He also bought a $400,000 beach house at Vista Mar Golf & Beach Resort.
In the expense line, the audit shows a Land Rover vehicle valued at $30,000 and an unidentified property in Panama, by transfer to Dubai (Arab Emirates) for $210,000.
There is a record of $700,000 in deposits abroad, due to local account closures A balance of $ 100,000 remains in banks.
Neither De Obarrio nor his wife have given explanations to the prosecution because they fled the country.
His mother, Silvana Manzini de De Obarrio, originally in preventive detention, was left to face the music alone
Rion
Rion Babu
