Panama officials search CK Hutchison’s subsidiary office: source

[PANAMA CITY] Panamanian authorities conducted a search of an office unit of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison in Panama on Thursday (Feb 26), according to a source familiar with the operation.

The raid on CK Hutchison’s Panama Ports Company (PPC) did not relate to a government decision to annul deals that gave the company control of two strategic port canals in Panama, this source said.

The source declined to be identified because the information had not yet been made public.

CK Hutchison did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This is an independent investigation carried out exclusively by the Public Ministry of Panama in the exercise of its legal powers,” the Panamanian government said in a statement without naming CK Hutchison as the target of the raid.

CK Hutchison’s shares fell 0.9 per cent in early trading in Hong Kong on Friday.

Local media reported the raid earlier. Television station TVN showed images of about a dozen people, some wearing vests emblazoned with the initials of Panama’s investigative police, or DIJ, in an underground parking lot that the station said was in the high-end Albrook area of Panama City.

The images showed some of the people loading cardboard boxes into the back of a police truck.

The name of the location was not visible in the images, and Reuters could not independently verify the report.

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A judicial official interviewed on a local television station confirmed a search had taken place, but did not name the business or what materials had been seized.

Panama’s top court recently declared unconstitutional CK Hutchison’s contracts to operate port terminals at the entrance to the Panama Canal, leading the government to annul the deals.

The decision sparked a battle embroiling both Beijing and Washington, after pressure from US President Donald Trump for Panama to curb Chinese influence over the Panama Canal, which carries about 5 per cent of global maritime trade.

CK Hutchison has said that it sees the decision as unlawful and is considering legal action. REUTERS