By Newsroom Panama
Panama: The mayor of the Pocrà district in the province of Los Santos, Manuel Soriano Cedeño pictured above, was provisionally detained by order of a magistrate in connection with two of the seven cases against him for alleged embezzlement offenses. The arrest took place on Thursday during a search of his residence, and he was presented in court on Friday, where his detention was legalized.
Soriano, who served as executive secretary of the National Council for Sustainable Development (Conades) between 2014 and 2018, faces seven separate investigations, each in a separate file, related to health infrastructure projects that should have been implemented during his administration.
According to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, among the projects identified is one for the construction of 453 health units in Caño de Natá, Coclé province, between 2016 and 2018, with a contract of more than one million dollars , of which advances of more than $100,000 were disbursed, without any execution being recorded.
Pocrà is a town and district in the Los Santos Province of Panama. It is located in the southern part of Panama, on the Azuero Peninsula. Specifically, the town of Pocrà is the capital of the Pocrà District.
To be more precise:
PocrÃ, Los Santos:
This is the specific location of the town and is located at coordinates 7°43′48″N 80°9′0″W.
Pocrà District:
This district encompasses the town and surrounding area, and is located within Los Santos Province.
Los Santos Province:
This province is situated in the southern part of Panama, on the Azuero Peninsula.