CORRUPTION

Vallarino under spotlight

Vallarino left the country without permission

NEIR CARRASCO KEREKES
ncarrasco@laestrella.com.pa

PANAMA. Panama’s municipal council is meeting this morning to discuss the alleged “wrong-doings” of city mayor, Bosco Vallarino.

He has been accused of illegally requesting the Town Hall to provide a ticket and funds for his wife, Anabel de Vallarino, to travel to the Special Olympics in Taipei, even though she is not a municipal employee.

The original invitation to the special olympics from Taipei’s Town Hall offers to pay all travel, accommodation and transportation costs.

Vallarino has also been criticised for travelling out of Panama without requesting permission from the municipal council and for leaving the city “Headless” since he was absent at the same time as his vice-mayor, Roxanna Mendez.

According to documents shown to La Estrella, on 26 August this year the General Secretary of Panama’s Town Hall sent a memo to the head of administration requesting “two club class tickets for the vice mayor and Vallarino’s wife”, as well as “$400 x 10 days” to pay for her daily expenses.

The Head of Administration, Carlos Levy, brought the request to the attention of Panama Governor Maytin Correa, who told him that the funds could not be authorised and instructed him to forward the memo to the Treasury for investigation. Levy was subsequently fired on 31 August.

Correa has written to Vallarino asking him to clarify his request for public funds for his wife’s use. The town hall says it is all an administratrive error.