No Panama Trial for Former Nicaraguan President

Panama has decided not to put former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman on trial for money laundering charges after all.

Aleman had been accused of using Panamanian bank accounts to launder around $58 million allegedly stolen from his country, but Panamanian courts decided that trying him would violate double jeopardy, the Associated Press reports.

In 2003, the former president was convicted to a 20-year prison sentence in Nicaragua for crimes including money laundering, corruption and embezzlement. During the trial, he maintained that the funds came from his coffee plantations.

Aleman ruled Nicaragua from 1997 to 2002 and holds a law degree with a specialization in regional economic integration and financial law.  In 2004, Transparency International named him the ninth most corrupt leader in recent history, estimating that he had managed to syphon off $100 million from his country’s coffers.

In January of 2009, Nicaragua’s Supreme Court overturned Aleman’s conviction, and he plans to run for president again in 2011.

Arnoldo Aleman / PHOTO AP / Esteban Felix