La Estrella de Panamá, June 16, 2015

A corruption scandal involving high-level politicians in Panama is spreading, now implicating members of the administration of current President Juan Carlos Varela.

Luis Cucalón, former finance minister under previous President Ricardo Martinelli, had already been charged with misusing state funds intended for a private tax collection agency. But new information suggests that the payments continued even under the current finance minister Dulcidio de la Guardia.

Ex-President Martinelli, already under investigation for corruption in Panama, is now also being pursued by U.S. and Canadian authorities as reported on the front page of today's La Estrella de Panamá.

ABOUT THE SOURCE: La Estrella de Panamá is a Panamanian daily founded in 1849 and based in Panama City.