CASINO CONCESSIONS

Former president under investigation

08-13-2009 | STAFF

mpujolstar@laestrella.com.pa

Panama Star PANAMA. The Gambling Board met to discuss the corruption accusations made against former President Ernesto “Toro” Perez Balladares, who allegedly gave gambling concessions to two companies in exchange for money.

The Economy and Finance Minister, Alberto Vallarino said that a series of investigations are being made with regards to the allegations made by the daily La Prensa against Perez Balladares.

Vallarino said that the concession given to Lucky Games is being examined by Gambling Board personnel to determine any irregularities.

The minister said that since Perez Balladares nationalized the casinos there have been mergers, liquidations and sales without the approval of the Gambling Board. “We need to make an exhaustive search of the file to find out what really happened, especially with those limited companies that went through a consolidation process, like in the case of the chance games company CIRSA,” said Vallarino.

The Anti-corruption Prosecution Office announced last week that it was considering investigating the alleged participation of Perez Balladares in the chance games industry after a report about his activities was published in La Prensa.

According to the newspaper, representatives of Lucky Games deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars into a bank account in the name of Shelf Holding Inc., a limited company operated by Ricardo Caputo, a close associate of Perez Balladares.

The report said that Shelf Holding moved around $8 million during the last few years and deposited into companies with links to Perez Balladares.