Stealing Funds From Health Places Will Be Punishable By Up To 10 Years In Prison. Causing Injury To Foreign Tourists Included

(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama) Year after year, there are complaints from parents who report thefts or robberies of funds from Parents' Clubs, intended for the payment of health insurance coverage for students, who end up being the most affected. The project also clearly establishes prison sentences of five to ten years, when the theft is committed in health centers and public or private hospitals. A bill approved by the National Assembly and which is only waiting to be sanctioned by President José Raúl Mulino to become a law of the Republic, could lead to those responsible for stealing or robbing resources from parents' clubs of public and private educational centers, to serve a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison.

According to the proposed amendment to Article 219 of the Criminal Code, the penalty will be increased by up to half if the robbery is committed: Using weapons, by a masked person, by two or more people, affecting personal freedom or causing injury, to the detriment of a national or foreign tourist, against drivers or users of public passenger transport, during the provision of the service and in an educational center or in public or private health centers and hospitals.

There are reports of theft of thousands of dollars from the contributions parents make to parent clubs that are“lost” without further explanation or strong criminal sanctions.
In many cases, the theft or robbery of these funds occurs due to the apparent failure to comply with the provisions of the decree that adopts the Statute of the Parents' Associations of the Official Schools of the Republic, which establishes that all sums collected or entered for any reason must be deposited in State credit institutions no later than the day after their collection. In cases where the above is not possible, the president, the treasurer and the prosecutor will take the necessary measures for the best custody of the funds. In most cases, the stolen or robbed money corresponds to sums contributed by the parents themselves to purchase accident insurance policies for their dependents, who are left without medical coverage after these criminal acts.
The project promoted by Congressman Nelson Jackson seeks to stop these crimes regularly committed by leaders of the parents' clubs themselves or by unknown persons.
The project modifies the Penal Code in numeral 1 of article 214, including more specifically within the sanctions for the crime of theft the prison sentence when this is committed against funds belonging to the parents' clubs of public and private educational centers.

Section 1 of Article 214 of the Penal Code, as approved, states that: The penalty will be five to ten years in prison in the following cases: When the theft is committed in offices, educational centers, health centers and public or private hospitals, archives or public establishments on things that are kept there, or when it is committed in another place on things intended for public use, or when it is committed in a church or religious temple, or when it is committed against funds belonging to the parents' clubs of public and private educational centers. The amendment to the current Penal Code also establishes a prison sentence of five to ten years when theft is committed in public or private health centres and hospitals, a rule that was not clearly defined in the current Penal Code. The bill also modifies the penalty established for the crime of robbery, which is currently punishable by imprisonment from seven to twelve years.
The proposed amendment is aimed at toughening the penalties for robberies committed in educational centers or in public or private health centers and hospitals, which was not defined in the current Penal Code.

For Representative Jackson, the events reported nationwide in many schools are evident and notorious, especially those in hard-to-reach areas that lack security and are being vandalized.“There are thefts, robberies all the time, practically taking away the future of children,” he said.“You don't have to go far, here the Don Bosco Health Center in San Miguelito has been vandalized several times, as has the Irma de Lourdes Tzanetatos Hospital on 24 de Diciembre, which is located near the capital, the Nicolás Solano Hospital in La Chorrera has been vandalized; in the interior of the country, the Penonomé Health Center had to be treated elsewhere because it was vandalized,” he said. Jackson said he has pushed for this law so that people who steal from and vandalize health centers, schools and churches are severely punished with a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years.
Although Jackson's original proposal called for preventing plea bargains for these crimes, this amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code was rejected.

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