The former director of the Panamanian Sports Institute ( Pandeportes ), Mario Pérez, was charged with embezzlement of  the sports institution. At a hearing on Friday, December 27  along with César Tejada, driver of former Panamenista lawmaker  Adolfo Beby Valderrama, and Ulrich Ronner, former director of the Panamanian Basketball Federation (Fepaba)

Meanwhile the hearing of the case against ex-Deputy Valderrama, was rescheduled for January 3.

Valderrama is associated with alleged irregularities in the handling of some $5 million managed during his term as deputy (2014-2019) and t were supposedly used for the purchase of sports equipment.

Already charged are former Pandeportes director Roberto 'Bob' Arango;  general manager of the National Baseball Federation (Fedebeis), Aníbal Reluz; the president of the Panamanian Basketball Federation (Fepaba), Jair Peralta, and the former PRD deputy, Jaime Pedrol .

An investigation carried out by the newspaper La Prensa revealed a series of anomalies in the handling of funds provided by Pandeportes as subsidies for the realization of sports leagues.