Spain, Panama and Colombia join forces in Inassa probe

Prosecutor offices of Spain, Panama and Colombia will create a joint investigation team to advance in the ongoing probe regarding alleged irregularities during the 2001 purchase of Colombian water holding Inassa by Madrid's public water utility Canal de Isabel II.

As part of an update in the ongoing Lezo corruption probe, the Spanish prosecutors said that their Colombian and Panamanian counterparts agreed to fully cooperate. Both countries "not only have facilitated all the required information, but have also allowed us to participate in proceedings such as witness testimonies and documental requirements directed toward different societies based in their countries," the European investigators said in a press release.

They also confirmed that the Dominican Republic cooperated in similar proceedings.

Prosecutors allege that Canal de Isabel II vastly overpaid for Inassa to the benefit of politicians in Spain and Colombia, and that former executives even mounted a parallel scheme, "filled with irregularities," to the one Madrid's city council actually approved.

Aside from the Inassa deal, Operation Lezo is investigating Canal de Isabel II's alleged payments to politicians, potential illicit funding of political parties and overpayment for assets in Latin America.