By Dean Buckley
Ireland’s official diplomatic representative in Panama is among more than 20 defendants accused of money laundering in one of the most significant trials in the country’s history.
Accused of using his family law firm to funnel millions in secret payments from Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht, honorary consul of Ireland in Panama Juan Carlos Rosas O’Donnell has pleaded not guilty.
Appointed to his position by Brian Cowan in 2004, Rosas O’Donnell joins his cousin and former congressman Jorge Alberto Rosas Rodríguez as well as ex-president Ricardo Martinelli among the defendants.
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs refused a freedom of information request for Carlos Rosas O’Donnell’s biannual financial accounts because “in certain instances” the disclosure “could endanger the life or safety of honorary consuls or members of their staff”.
Closing arguments in his trial begin today.
Banned from leaving Panama while on trial
Both Juan Carlos Rosas O’Donnell and his cousin Jorge Alberto Rosas Rodríguez allegedly used their family law firm Rosas y Rosas to send and receive millions of dollars in off-the-books payments to and from Odebrecht.
The address provided for Rosas O’Donnell's consulate on the Department of Foreign Affairs website is the offices of Rosas y Rosas in Panama City.
Brazilian multinational Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, has been embroiled in a corruption scandal across Latin America for more than a decade.
Banned from leaving Panama while on trial, Rosas O’Donnell provides consular services on behalf of the Irish state, receiving an honorarium of €1,125, and allowed to retain half of all fees charged. He can also claim expenses on communications costs.
His father Olmedo A. Rosas was a lawyer and public servant who founded Rosas y Rosas in 1953 with his brother Jorge Rubén Rosas Abrego. Rosas Abrego served as Panama's labour minister from 1989 to 1993.
His mother Mary O’Donnell de Rosas was a senior official in the Panamanian foreign ministry from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Irish honorary consuls are accredited to provide consular assistance and promote Irish trade in the countries where they live.
Rosas O’Donnell is Ireland’s only diplomatic representative in Panama and has been accredited to the Irish embassy in Colombia since it opened in 2019.
Though not state employees, honorary consuls are official diplomatic representatives of the governments they serve, with obligations and protections secured in international law by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
His co-defendants include ex-president Ricardo Martinelli whose sons previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering in the US for their role in the scheme.
Odebrecht was one of the Brazilian conglomerates exposed by Operation Car Wash, a long-running investigation into money laundering and corruption centred on Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras.
It and other companies formed a cartel to corruptly bid for major civil engineering and construction contracts from the state at inflated prices by bribing public servants and elected officials.
Odebrecht signed a leniency agreement with Brazil’s public prosecutor in 2016, which led to the depositions of 78 of its executives.
The evidence from these depositions has fuelled further investigations and court cases in other countries where Odebrecht operates, including Panama, where it is one of the state’s largest contractors.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has been contacted for comment.
