A complaint filed with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office of the Attorney General's Office reveals alleged money laundering operations that may have injected over 30 million dollars of illicit origin into the Panamanian economy.
The individuals accused are brothers of Asian origin and naturalized Venezuelan citizens, surnamed Siem Wu, who are said to have moved funds to Panama from the massive CADIVI system fraud in Venezuela.
From Caracas to Panama: The Trail of Dirty Money According to the document, the funds under investigation were diverted from the National Administration of Foreign Exchange Commission (CADIVI), the epicenter of one of the biggest corruption scandals in Venezuelan history. Public investigations in that country denounced a embezzlement exceeding 25 billion dollars, part of which was channeled through a local bank, a mechanism that, according to the complaint, was used by the Siem Wu brothers.
Shell Companies and the Purchase of Panamanian Supermarkets The complaint warns that after the funds arrived, the Siem Wu brothers deployed a typical "placement and integration stages" scheme for money laundering, investing in visible businesses in Panama. Among the companies mentioned are two prestigious supermarket chains and a company based in the Colón Free Trade Zone. The purchase of a majority stake in the supermarket involved a transaction of nearly 50 million dollars, which was carried out with the participation of two local banks.
Links to Venezuela and Canada The Venezuelan newspaper El Siglo reported in 2018 that the National Assembly of that country was investigating the company Lucky Star and the Siem Wu brothers for the diversion of 900 million dollars from the CADIVI program. At that time, Deputy Guillermo Luces requested that the governments of Canada and Panama be informed, warning that both businessmen had opened companies and laundered money in these territories.
Network of Companies and Properties in Panama The complaint details a web of anonymous companies registered in Panama under the control of the Siem Wu brothers, with similar names and complex structures, which, according to the document, were intended to "disguise, hide, and distribute illicit capital." Additionally, dozens of farms and properties distributed in different provinces, from Potrerillos in Chiriquí to Tocumen and Colón, are listed, which demonstrates a broad patrimonial movement.
Legal Precedents in Panama and Venezuela The accused are not unknown to the judicial authorities. In Venezuela, they faced a process for procedural fraud against the company Calzados La Unión C.A., and in Panama, they were convicted for ideological falsity, as reported by La Estrella de Panamá. Even one of their acquired companies in Panama was included by the government of Nicolás Maduro in a list of money laundering companies, which caused the temporary suspension of economic relations between Panama and Venezuela in 2018.
Call for Immediate Action from the Public Ministry The complainant requests the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to initiate a formal investigation for the crime of money laundering against both brothers, in order to determine the origin of the funds, the possible networks of complicity, and to apply the corresponding sanctions under article 254 of the Panamanian Penal Code.
The complaint emphasizes that this is an autonomous and transnational conduct, whose seriousness lies in the direct impact on the national economy and in the use of the Panamanian financial system to legitimize illicit capital.
"Dirty money seeks legitimacy, and it finds it where there is silence"
Accompanied by jurisprudential references, public documents, and links from international media, the complaint raises the need for a firm response from the Public Ministry, to prevent Panama from being again pointed out by international organizations as a haven for money laundering.
