Panama City, Jul 18 (AP) Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli was sentenced Tuesday to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering.

Martinelli, 71, had been trying to mount a political comeback in next year's general elections, but a judge sentenced him to 128 months in prison in a case that revolved around the purchase of a media company.

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The supermarket magnate who governed Panama from 2009 to 2014 was elected by his party last month as its presidential candidate for the May 5 election.

The case, known locally as “New Business,” dates back to 2017 and concerns the 2010 purchase of a publishing company that owns national newspapers.

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Prosecutors said companies that had won lucrative government contracts during Martinelli's presidency funnelled money to a front company that was then used to purchase the publisher. The transactions involved a complex series of foreign money transfers totally USD 43 million. The front company collecting the money was called “New Business.”

In closing statements at trial in June, prosecutor Emeldo Márquez had requested the maximum sentence for Martinelli, which would have been 12 years.

The judge also fined Martinelli USD 19 million

Martinelli had denied wrongdoing and maintained that he was the victim of a political persecution. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)