An audit report has revealed a financial discrepancy in the case of Héctor Hugo Brands Córdoba, the former director of the Panamanian Institute of Sports (Pandeportes). According to the document, his actual banking movements, including disbursements, spending, credit card payments, transfers, purchases, and deposits, totaled B/.649,295.18, a figure the report itself highlights as impossible to justify with legitimate income.
The Comptroller's Office details conspicuous expenditures, including B/.490,691.96, which, according to investigators, fits a possible scheme of third-party intermediation, a mechanism commonly linked to money laundering.
Risk Pattern: Low Income, High Movements The report warns that the income declared by Brands does not correspond to the volume of banking transactions, increasing the risk of financial operations without a legal basis.
The National Directorate of Investigations and Forensic Audit states that the former official and his inner circle managed structures of companies and accounts that "suggest possible use of beneficiaries and related accounts to channel, hide, or disperse funds of presumably illicit origin."
Those Arrested: 1. Héctor Hugo Brands Córdoba – ID 8-744-228 2. Héctor Alberto Brands Orozco – ID 8-848-220 3. Eliana Janette Cedeño Delgado – ID 8-711-159 4. Aimar Abdala Brands Cedeño – ID 8-1009-368 5. Aldair Abdala Brands Cedeño – ID 8-920-609 6. Elvis Enrique Rodríguez – ID 6-707-115 7. Yabel Anicellys Núñez Vásquez – ID 9-754-138
Brands' defense, led by lawyer Roberto Moreno, disputes the Comptroller's conclusions. Moreno asserts that the $649,000 has a legitimate origin, coming from a company where Brands was a partner before entering public service, which he declared in his asset declaration. The defense emphasizes that their client has been voluntarily cooperating with authorities and considers his arrest excessive and a violation of due process.
