Panama is heaven

PANAMA. It appears that Panama is still a fiscal paradise for money launderers, despite legislation to prevent it from taking place.

So far this year, more than $4 million earnings from drug, weapons and child-trafficking have been recuperated by the authorities.

Another $2 million is still in the hands of the National Commission for the Prevention of Drug Crime.

According to drug prosecutors, Panamanians head the list of those responsible for money-laundering at 49 percent, followed by Colombians (39 per cent) and Mexicans (8 percent). Argentinians and Venezuelans also feature in the list.

Every year there is an average of 100 cases of money-laundering, according to the Attorney General’s office.

So far this year, the drug prosecutor has started 21 procedings and prepared 59 other cases against people connected with money laundering.

Internationally, 95% of money-launderers use front-men to run their accounts, according to Edwin Guardia, second drug prosectutor.

He said that criminals somehow always find a way to make deposits and purchases and often succeed in overcoming the difficulties of opening a new bank account, even though it is not easy to do so in Panama.

The Superintendent of Banks said that new banking laws make it easier to detect and prevent money-laundering.

“Perhaps if we had had this law then we wouldn’t be faced with a case like DMG,” he said.

DMG was a company headed by David “Pyramid King” Murcia who is now in jail in Colombia for money laundering and whose accounts remain under investigation in Panama.