https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/former-mayor-of-colon-alex-lee-facing-criminal-proceedings

The former mayor of Colón, Alex Lee, is not only facing criminal proceedings for alleged irregularities in the management of funds from the Barrio Sur Communal Board in Colón; now the Court of Accounts has notified him of a summons to trial, the result of an investigation by the Accounts Prosecutor’s Office that referred a fiscal hearing to recover $200,000.  These funds were allocated to the Barrio Sur Communal Board between 2009 and 2014 to carry out social interest programs, but an audit report by the Comptroller General of the Republic revealed inconsistencies in the management of these resources.  This led to the information being sent to both the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Audit Office to initiate investigations.  Sources linked to the process revealed that the prosecution has already sent its fiscal view to the Court of Accounts in which it requested that Lee be brought to trial, to find out the destination of the funds belonging to the Barrio Sur Communal Board.  The case is also being heard in the criminal sphere.

On May 17, a judge charged Lee with the alleged commission of the crime of embezzlement and imposed a precautionary measure prohibiting him from leaving the country and reporting periodically on the 15th and 30th of each month.  Lee, who belongs to the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) and served as mayor of Colón during the previous administration (2019-2024), faces a new scandal after the current head of the Colón municipality, Diógenes Galván, reported the loss of 28 vehicles assigned to that entity.  Galván also denounced the existence of a large number of officials who had no duties, but received their paychecks regularly.  He explained that the list was made up of about 1,400 people and of that total, about 500 were detected as “bottles” and that these people are being disqualified from their positions.  The current mayor of Colón also found that some former officials of the Municipality of Colón maintained high salaries, in addition to representation expenses and per diems.