Most of Panama's previous cabinet of ministers allegedly engaged in insider-dealing during the reign of the now-disgraced President Ricardo Martinelli; the fallout continues.

The latest piece of news, according to Newsroom Panama, is that Mayte Pellegrini, who faces charges related to the investigation of the brokerage house Financial Pacific, has been denied police protection. Pellegrini is the so-called 'whistle-blower' on the share-manipulation scam that allegedly took in almost everyone in the cabinet.

Martinelli’s private secretary, Adolfo “Chichi” de Obarrio, who at the time was under 30, acted as a 'gatekeeper' for nearly all government purchases and was a friend of former President Martinelli’s son, Luis Enrique. Rafael Guardia, one of two former chiefs of the National Assistance Programme, which had access to funds of US£1.2 billion, says that he embezzled money on Luis Enrique's orders by means of 'commissions,' 'fresh air invoicing', dummy corporations and rigged auctions.