As part of the sentence, Suárez must pay a fine of 27.4 million dollars and Ford, $11.4 million. On the other hand, the former president of the board of directors of the Savings Bank (CA), Riccardo Francolini, was sentenced to 60 months in prison and the payment of a fine of $470,000. Octavio Samaniego Castillo, George Moreno Pérez Venero, and Alcides Bernal Zambrano were also sentenced to 152, 80, and 60 months in prison, respectively. For the crime of corruption of public officials, Juan Daniel Girón and César Jaramillo Gutiérrez face 64 and 72 months in prison, respectively. Marquínez also acquitted 10 people: Melina Cano Achurra, Valentín Martínez Vásquez, Luis Alberto Arias, Jaime Martín De La Espriella, Luis Antonio Donadío Santamaría, Mary Su Gutiérrez, Maribel Oberto, Marcelino Martínez, Silvia Rojas, and Manuel Ruiz Gil. Previously, on March 10, 2023, the judge had handed down a 120-month prison sentence to Adolfo “Chichi” De Obarrio, former personal secretary of Martinelli Berrocal during his presidential term. The parties were notified of the admission of this appeal on December 30, 2025. Until this appeal is resolved, the conviction sentence handed down in 2023 by Judge Baloisa Marquínez (confirmed by the Higher Court of Liquidation of Criminal Cases in April 2024) is not final. The presenter is Otilia Vergara de Valderrama, substitute for magistrate Maribel Cornejo, who is barred from handling this appeal, as she was appointed prosecutor in the case, for the Blue Apple case, being followed in the Court against Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, sons of former President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal (2009-2014) and substitute deputies of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen). Magistrate María Eugenia López Arias acts as guarantees judge, despite the failed attempts by the Martinelli Linares to recuse her and thus remove her from the case. In the list of the eight accused who were convicted by Judge Marquínez, there are two former Ministers of Public Works: Federico José Suárez and Jaime Ford, sentenced to 168 and 80 months in prison, respectively. For the bribes in the so-called Blue Apple case, eight people have been sentenced to prison since November 13, 2023. Why is no one in jail yet? The answer lies in the Supreme Court. The Penalty Division has not yet made a decision on the appeal for cassation filed by several convicted of money laundering within this case. A year ago, a compliance judge rejected their request for supervised release, so it was his turn to remain at the El Renacer penitentiary center, where he entered to serve his 72-month prison sentence. Marquínez also ordered the seizure of a villa in the PH Bristol Buenaventura, valued at $235,000; an apartment in the PH Wind Rose in Coco del Mar, corregimiento of San Francisco (its value is not specified); a plot of land located in Mariato, for $63,000; a savings account at Banco General for $19,988.17 and the interest earned; another savings account at Multibank for $124.24 and a bank account at Credomatic for $22,313.13 in the name of Octavio Samaniego. The recovered amount When the ruling was issued in 2023, the Public Ministry reported that, to date, it had managed to recover for the State the sum of $81.1 million, an amount that includes $8.9 million deposited in bank accounts in Switzerland and the money returned by the contractors who confessed to having bribed officials of the Martinelli administration. Carlos Cerdas, of Constructora Meco; Alberto Jurado, of Bagatrac; Juan Alexis Rodríguez, of Constructora Rodsa, and Eduardo Di Bello, of Ingeniería REC, confessed in the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office that they made payments through a basket company called Blue Apple Services, Inc., which corresponded to a percentage ranging between 5% and 10% of the gross value of their contracts with the MOP, in concept of “political aid”. The sentence was confirmed by the Higher Court of Liquidation of Criminal Cases on April 30, 2025. It is believed he remains in Italy, a country that does not apply the extradition treaty agreed with Panama, because the National Assembly (AN) has not yet ratified it. The one who did enter prison to serve the imposed sentence was the former Contracts Administrator of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP), Jorge Ruiz. As an accessory penalty, he should pay a fine of $5 million. De Obarrio has never appeared in person.
