A JUDGE  who dropped files of a major criminal case involving ex-president Ricardo Martinelli on a public highway has been suspended from office and is facing criminal charges.

Judge Felipe Fuentes was ordered suspended in a hearing on Thursday, February 1. He was also charged with the alleged commission of crimes against the public administration, by subtracting part of the file of the Financial Pacific case. The documents later appeared on a highway in the Loma Cová sector.

The suspension decision was adopted at the request of anti-corruption prosecutor Aurelio Vásquez.

"Unfortunately, gentlemen journalists, the law forbids me to give interviews and defend myself in the media, "said the judge on arriving  at the accusatory criminal justice system offices in Plaza Ágora,

Accompanied by his lawyer, Fuentes said that he was confident that "the truth will shine ".

The investigation of the case began on January 15, when a citizen went to the headquarters of the Attorney General's Office, and delivered the Financial Pacific booklets, after finding them on public roads.

The prosecution intends to establish a possible criminal liability for the subtraction of the booklets, which

are part of an investigation originated by a complaint filed by the Superintendency of the Stock Market related to the High Spirit account in  Financial Pacific, reports La Prensa.

In a letter sent on January 18 to the president of the Supreme Court José Ayú Prado, Judge Fuentes said that the files had been taken in  "error", after an official in his office confused them with the material he was using for his criminal law thesis in The University of Panama.

The magistrates of the Second Superior Court, the hierarchical superiors of Fuentes, have also opened an administrative investigation and ordered a verification of the management of the records in his judicial office.