Fidanque III admits to errors and the complicity of his Board of Directors

President Varela gives his support to Tocumen Airport General Manager Fidanque III

 

Without as much waiting for the preliminary results of an investigation into supposed irregularities which was barely underway, President Juan Carlos Varela jumped the gun and proceeded to label it as an unfounded attack against the general manager of Tocumen S.A.

 

During a tour of the Airport last April 8, President Varela dismissed publications by Panama America as an attack against Mr. Fidanque III and his administration.

 

“I dare say these complaints were made by the very people that enjoyed milking the parking lot concessions at the Airport during the previous administration. Four million dollars that 2 or 3 people pocketed, and which now go straight into state coffers", he declared.

 

The president went on to praise Mr. Fidanque III for increasing Airport revenues by $70m 'thanks to greater efficiency and transparency'. His appearance was indeed regarded as a vote of confidence in the general manager of Tocumen SA, who had come under strong criticism for the considerable amount of directly awarded contracts to preferred companies occurring under his watch.

Mr. Fidanque III was designated to his current position on July 8, 2014.

Tin that instance, the public ministry had no choice but to open an investigation ex oficio, whose results are yet to be published.

 

Contrast this to the complete silence of the Anti-Corruption tsar in relation to a very similar case in which private businesses were the beneficiaries of directly awarded procurement contracts issued by state institutions headed by people enjoying direct links with such service providers.

 

Suscríbete al newsletter #AlDíaConPanamáAmérica

Las noticias que importan directo a tu inbox

SUSCRIBETE

Such is the case for the procurement contracts issued directly and in instalments by Joseph Fidanque III over the course of 2015 for a total value in excess of $20m.

 

If that was not enough, Mr. Fidanque III approved some 27 direct procurement contracts to businesses in which he had direct shareholding interest and on whose boards he sat: Cochez Cia and Geo F. Novey Inc.

 

If the silence of Ms. Maytin looks suspicious, only consider that she and Mr. Fidanque III were for many years representatives of the local chapter of Transparency International: the Foundation for the Development of Civic Freedom.

 

As a member of this organization, Mr. Fidanque III was highly critical of direct procurement contracts.

 

Nevertheless, the moment he was appointed as general manager of Tocumen S.A., by his own admission his first action was to hire directly a company, STI, owned by one of his close friends. Mr. Fidanque III also publicly admitted that he was an investor in Cochez Cia and Geo F. Novey Inc.

 

In a lame attempt to try and to justify the untenable, he declared that the buying department at Tocumen S.A. was unaware of his business interests.

 

However, that was sufficient proof of wrongdoing in the eyes of Atty. for the Administration Rigoberto Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez proceeded to open a disciplinary process against Mr. Fidanque III for allegedly violating article 14 of law 23 of 2003. The latter establishes that "members of the board of directors, the general manager and the internal auditor are prohibited from entering into contracts, be them verbal or written, with businesses in which either they, or their relatives four times removed, hold an economic interest".

 

Failure to comply with article 14 should result in the immediate dismissal of the offending party.

 

According to Mr. Gonzalez, in the case of Mr. Fidanque III, that decision would be the responsibilit of the board of directors of Tocumen S.A.

 

According to official reports, at Tocumen SA there exist in excess of $9m worth of contracts that have been directly awarded in instalments so as to eschew been published on the Panama Compra portal.

 

For 2015, the number is as high as $11m.