---
title: "Panama's Supreme Court Rebukes Superior Tribunal, Restores Judge's Call to Trial in Mizrachi Odebrecht Case"
date: 2026-03-19
modified: 2026-03-20
author: ""
url: https://panamadaily.news/csj-ruling-ronny-mizrachi-odebrecht/
categories:
  - "Crime"
  - "News"
  - "Politics"
tags:
  - "Caribbean Holding"
  - "CSJ"
  - "Odebrecht"
  - "Panama judiciary"
  - "Ronny Mizrachi"
---

# Panama's Supreme Court Rebukes Superior Tribunal, Restores Judge's Call to Trial in Mizrachi Odebrecht Case

## What Happened

The Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) ruled that the First Superior Tribunal erred when it granted an amparo that removed Aaron “Ronny” Mizrachi from the Odebrecht trial held from January 12 to February 27. The full court, with the opinion delivered by magistrate Maribel Cornejo, said the First Tribunal exceeded its role by evaluating matters that only the trial judge could properly weigh after examining the full body of evidence.

## Details of the Ruling

The CSJ found that magistrates Carlos H. Pizarro, Guimara Aparicio Ortega and Melina Robinson Oro of the First Superior Tribunal made an analysis inconsistent with the procedural stage when they concluded that Judge Baloisa Marquínez had not specified the date, mode and place of the conduct imputed to Mizrachi or established his individual participation. The plenary said there was no “error of denomination of the crime” by Judge Marquínez and that the incident of nullity used by Mizrachi’s lawyer was not the appropriate mechanism to challenge the judge’s order calling the case to trial.

The CSJ described the First Tribunal’s reasoning as incoherent and disproportionate, and noted that the Tribunal’s action effectively removed Mizrachi from the trial that began on January 12 despite an appeal by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office that remained pending before the Court.

## Mizrachi and Caribbean Holding

The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office alleges that Caribbean Holding Services Ltd., controlled by Mizrachi, received funds from Odebrecht’s off-the-books Caja 2. Prosecutors rely on testimony from Caribbean Holding’s sales manager, Alejandro Díaz Araúz, who said Mizrachi managed the company’s accounts, and on documents from Odebrecht’s cooperation agreement that show orders of payment totaling $1.4 million to Caribbean Holding Services Ltd.

Investigators also point to transfers from Constructora Internacional del Sur for $1.8 million to Caribbean Holding, two transfers from Klienfeld Services Ltd. for $199,000 and $299,000, and two transfers in 2009 and 2010 from Innovation Research Engineering Corp. for amounts over $100,000. Mizrachi has acknowledged that Caribbean Holding received money from Odebrecht that was later redirected to Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal, Juan Carlos Varela and Importadora Ricamar.

## Background and Next Steps

Ronny Mizrachi is the brother-in-law of former president Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal and the father of Panama district mayor Mayer Mizrachi. The CSJ ruling restores the proper procedural path for the trial judge to weigh evidence and to set Mizrachi’s participation in the case. As of this decision, Judge Marquínez has not set a new trial date for Mizrachi and has not revealed the sentence for 16 people already judged in the Odebrecht-related money laundering proceedings.

## What This Means

The Supreme Court’s decision emphasizes procedural boundaries between appellate tribunals and the trial judge in high-profile corruption cases. It clears the way for the trial court to resume its role in determining individual responsibility after a full evidentiary review, while leaving unresolved the timing of Mizrachi’s next appearance in court.