State hangs on to $510,000 home of fugitive Martinelli sidekick

A $510,000 apartment  owned by Adolfo Chichi De Obarrio, former private secretary of former President Ricardo Martinelli valued at remains in possession of authorities after The Second Superior Court of Justice confirmed a decision of the Twelfth Criminal Court.

Fugitive De Obarrio is investigated for alleged unjustified enrichment.

The ruling, dated November 6, indicates that in this case the request to lift the precautionary measure cannot be accepted, since the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of Discharge, has provided evidence that the apartment was acquired during the period De Obarrio  was an official and that an audit report by the Comptroller General of the Republic revealed an unjustified enrichment of the former official for an amount of $3.7 million.

The prosecution has evidence that the first payment to acquire the property was made with funds that came from a checking account in the name of Adolfo De Obarrio.

The anti-corruption prosecutor Javier Miter Burgos explained that Apartment  No. 4 of PH Bianco Loft in El Golf , which remains guarded, was originally acquired by Salvatori Spinelli, who sold it to a couple through the real estate company James Realty , who transferred the property to a corporation controlled by relatives of De Obarrrio.

According to the prosecution, the measure of apprehension of the real estate is justified, since it gathers elements of conviction based on the audit report of the Comptroller in which the unjustified capital increase of De Obarrio was determined.

On August 8, the court suspended for the second time the preliminary hearing of De Obarrio and the brothers Gabriel and Mike Btesh.

The hearing was suspended after the presentation of an Amparo of constitutional guarantees before the Supreme Court of Justice for the defense of Mike Btesh.

The mother and wife of Chichi De Obarrio -Silvana Manzini de De Obarrio and Ivette Barcello Fábrega, respectively- are also charged. and María Alessandra Salerno.

Gabriel Btesh has not appeared in this process and maintains a red Interpol alert for his location, capture, and transfer to Panama.

De Obarrio also appears in the case for the purchase of backpacks through the National Assistance Program (PAN), which is based in the Fifteenth Criminal Court, by Leslie Loaiza.