US authorities have extradited dual Panamanian-Italian citizen Luis Martinelli Linares from Guatemala to the US after charging him and his brother, Ricardo Martinelli Linares, with ML of funds from a bribery scheme involving the Brazil-based global construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A.
The Linares brothers paid over $700 million in bribes to government officials, political parties, public servants, and others in Panama and other countries to boost Odebrecht’s business. The Linares brothers and co-conspirators laundered over $28 million in Odebrecht’s bribe payments to a then high-ranking Panamanian government official.
Authorities arrested the Linares brothers in Guatemala in July 2020. They charged the defendants with ML and related offenses in February 2021. Efforts are still on to extradite Ricardo Martinelli Linares to the US for judicial proceedings.
Source: US Department of Justice