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Italian authorities following money trail of company that sold radar systems to Panama. Alleged kickbacks denied

Thursday, November 24, 2011


While Panamanian authorities remain mum about the $333 million purchase of radar equipment from Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, the scandal over alleged kickbacks to customers by the group of companies deepens.

This past weekend, the Italian authorities arrested Manlio Fiore, a senior executive of Selex Sistemi Integrati, the company that sold coastal radar systems to Panama for $125 million.

Fiore is accused of issuing false invoices and using a "secret fund" to make gifts to consultants, officials and political parties for the award of contracts. The employer denied the allegations yesterday, as did the president of Finmeccanica, Pierfrancesco Guarguaglini.

Original source: Newsroom Panama