PANAMA'S POSTER BOY FOR CORRUPTION FAILS TO SHOW UP FOR HIS MONEY LAUNDERING HEARING

Mayer Mizrachi, the son of fugitive Aron Mizrachi, and himself deported from Colombia, to face corruption and money laundering charges in Panama, failed to attend a mandatory hearing this week, on the money laundering aspect of his criminal case. The fact that no warrant was issued for his arrest  demonstrates the sheer power of the country's Sephardic organized crime syndicate, which virtually rules Panama, through bribes & kickbacks, and the placement of its members in all levels of the government.

Mayer's attorney, who did attend the hearing, is Ana Isabel Belfon Vejas, who was the Attorney General under the administration of Panama's now-fugitive former President, Ricardo Martinelli. Belfon has been accused of failing to bring criminal charges, in the Financial Pacific scandal, and killing the investigation, of ignoring Panama's rampant money laundering for five years, and of failing to return $4.2m, taken from a defendant who was acquitted, all during her tenure as Fiscal. I once had the dubious pleasure of seeing her have lunch, in public, with a Venezuelan national with known criminal links. She didn't care who saw her.

If Mayer Mizrachi is not convicted, and imprisoned, for his role in cheating the Government of Panama out of millions of dollars, the country's criminal justice system, riddled with corruption, will be further exposed as a sick joke played upon the people it is supposed to protect. We can only hope that the United States extradites him, to face the music, for laundering his criminal proceeds through American banks. The judges in the United States actually arrest defendants who fail to appear in court.