The publication of an expensive book funded by National Government and the Mayor´s Office of the capital district, called "Medical doctors of Panama", which promotes the figure of Grimaldo
Córdoba, convicted of illegal practice of medicine, could be subjected to a new criminal investigation.
In the opinion of lawyers, politicians and members of the civil society, who are flabbergasted by the selective treatment a complaint filed against Grimaldo Cordoba received for exercising the profession of medical doctor without a license and for being in charge of the Department of Health Promotion in the Ministry of Health (Minsa), for which he has not yet been processed.
According to Enrique Montenegro of the Front Against Corruption, this action constitutes a crime against the public administration in the form of misappropriation of public funds.
Montenegro considers that from this moment, the Public Ministry (MP) is obliged to investigate the officials responsible for sponsoring this book which, it seems, seeks to promote the political figure of Grimaldo Cordoba, who was one of the main spokesmen for President Juan Carlos Varela during his political campaign.
In the book, in which feature renowned figures in each of the branches of medicine, Cordoba is identified as a specialist in Pediatrics, however, in the biography not very much is mentioned about medicine, but rather it focuses on his political career as a member of the Panameñista party.
The Mayor of Panama, José Isabel Blandón, has not provided a response to this incident, which sets forth the protection given to friends of the Government.
It could be a case of misappropriation
In social networks, the action of the Mayor's Office was attributed to an action that could be interpreted as misappropriation.
The leader of Cambio Democrático, Dinoska Montalvo, said that it would be necessary to "know if the national Government and the Mayor failed to halt the publication of the book". "This should
have never happened", she posted on Twitter.
In this social network, José Luis Vargas called the publication of the book as a "misappropriation", by calling Grimaldo Cordoba a medical doctor. "So the Mayor's Office and the Government spent money to fund a fraud."
Grimaldo Cordoba was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, but the decision was appealed by the defense; now, the resource must be resolved by the Second High Court Tribunal, meanwhile, the sentence has been suspended since last December.
On 2 September 2015, the Sixteenth Public Prosecutor's Office requested the appeal trial to Cordoba, former candidate to representative of San Francisco for the governing Panameñista party.
