With a white guayabera, light pants, dark glasses and sneakers, Enrique Lau Cortés arrived at 10:53 in the morning this Wednesday at the headquarters of the Accusatory Penal System (SPA) in Plaza Ágora. In a series of hearings that would last into the night, he would be charged with the crimes of unjustified enrichment and money laundering.
A report from the Comptroller’s Office of the Republic, cited by the prosecutors of the Public Ministry during the hearing, indicates that there are 122,553 dollars whose origin has not been able to be accounted for in the accumulated assets of the former director of the Social Security Fund (CSS) between 2019 and 2025. In addition, a report from the Directorate of Judicial Investigation (DIJ) points to more than half a million dollars transferred between companies, including movements to a brewery, from where they were later transferred to accounts in the Republic Dominican.
Lau Cortés was already a millionaire when he arrived at the CSS in 2019. According to information presented by the Public Ministry, he had around 2.1 million dollars in assets when he came to office. His apartment, located in Santa María, was purchased for more than 600 thousand dollars, which would presumably be a much lower amount than its real value, since it would have been acquired at auction. It was there where he exhibited his painting Africa of Mine, made by Olga Sinclair and valued at $50,000, which was seized by the Public Ministry and the National Police on Tuesday morning.
It is one of many luxuries enjoyed by the former CSS director, who also purchased a property in Nikki Beach, Playa Blanca, costing approximately $236,500 during his time in office. Payments of more than $80,000 between three credit cards were also detailed.
Another of the irregularities that the Public Ministry found, which, according to prosecutors, point to a possible concealment of assets, were transfers of hundreds of thousands of dollars from Lau Cortés’ personal accounts to Siacap, and then withdrawals for the same amounts back to his accounts. In addition, there were two transfers that totaled 500 thousand dollars to a company apparently called Cervecería La Diez, from which some 444 thousand dollars were later transferred to accounts in the Dominican Republic. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, these could be front companies and transfers with the intention of obfuscating the origin of the funds.
The details of the hearing were known to La Estrella de Panamá through sources close to the case, since it was not possible for any media to be present during the hearings.
Judge Zenia Pérez accepted the request of Lau Cortés’ defense attorney, who asked that the media journalists be removed at the beginning of the hearing for the legalization of the arrest. The prosecutor recalled that the hearings in the SPA are public, and Judge Pérez also recognized this, but she expelled the journalists anyway, arguing that the presumption of innocence must be “respected.”
The arrest was finally legalized, and it took until 6:00 pm for the charges of unjustified enrichment and money laundering to be admitted. At the close of this edition, the hearing for the ordering of precautionary measures is still ongoing.
The defense can present various arguments to request a measure other than provisional detention. It was learned that during the hearing it was proven that Lau Cortés, 75 years old, has multiple medical conditions, from hypertension to hearing problems, and that he must take about 15 medications daily. Precisely, at 6 in the afternoon a break was declared for him to consume his food. He was also given medical support during the hearing. Another factor that the judge could take into account is a daughter of the former director who has a disability and is dependent on him.
At the moment, Lau Cortés is the only person charged in this case, although the prosecutor pointed out financial movements of close relatives and it is not ruled out that the investigation will be expanded to other people.
Regardless of the current case, Lau Cortés also has another case under investigation at the Public Ministry related to around 2.5 million dollars in expired medications. The current status of that case is unknown at the moment, the complaint of which was presented by the legal team of the current administration of the CSS in May 2025. On that occasion, irregularities were also reported in the transfer of some 400 million dollars from the institution to the Central Government, a case about which the current status of the investigation is also unknown.
