At a hearing intermediate phase lasted nine hours, the judge guarantees of Cocle, Maria Isabel Pedreschi, gave the order to open the trial against the former governor of Cocle Richard Fifer for November 29, 2016, for allegedly crime of withholding labor-management fees to the detriment of the Social Security Fund (CSS).
At the same hearing, the prosecutor sixth Anticorruption, Aurelio Vasquez, charged him Fifer charges and asked to be sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison.
CSS, represented by Humberto Ledezma, joined as a plaintiff to the prosecutor's indictment.
Fifer is accused of alleged withholding quotas through Petaquilla [$ 3.3 million] and Panama Infrastructure Development [$ 3.1 million].