OFF THE CUFF: Panama prosecutors play bribery  catch up.

AS A  DELEGATION of Panama prosecutors  led  by David Diaz  headed for Washington another group  set out for Quito, Ecuador, both on missions connected with the Odebrecht bribery scandal.

After months of apparently  marking  time the Attorney General’s office is rushing to make up for lost time.

Diaz, the agency's deputy secretary general, coordinated a meeting with officials from the United States Department of Justice after  documents released by US authorities, revealed that  the construction company admitted to paying $59 million in  bribes to senior officials in Panama. \In total, Odebrecht acknowledged having paid $788 million in bribes in 10 countries in the region ­ including Panama ­ and two in Africa.

The confession was part of an agreement between prosecutors and  Odebrecht lawyers lawyers that was endorsed Dec. 21 by the Court of the Eastern District of New York.

"We want to take the opportunity to gather important evidence," Diaz said in a press release released by the AG's Office.

Part of the meeting between the Panamanian and US authorities is based "on theinternational assistance made by the United States in a case for alleged money laundering, for some actions related to crimes against public administration and for financial crimes, specifically those related to the FIFA case, in addition to discussing the cases that have recently arisen as a result of news from the Justice Department about

the Odebrecht case," said the press release.

Second Prosecutor against Organized Crime Javier Caraballo and the Chief Prosecutor of the Department of Criminal Analysis James Gay are traveling to Quito as part of the investigation into alleged offenses against public administration, money laundering and financial crimes derived from the PetroEcuador case.

"The exchange of information with Ecuador has allowed us to seize more than $4 millionand this exchange of information has allowed us to gather evidence that we are sure  will be transcendental  in our later investigations” said Caraballo.