The District Attorney N15 of Panama has formally charged Ismael Gerli Champsaur, a Panamanian attorney, with forgery of public documents.

Earlier this year, Ismael Gerli, director of a Panamanian law firm Gerli&Co, has been charged with embezzlement which allowed him to take over properties belonging to one of his clients.

Apparently, Gerli forged a number of documents that allowed him to take possession of 100% of shares belonging to the company of Vladimir Kokorev, a Spanish citizen of Russian origins. Several years ago, Mr. Kokorev retained the services of Ismael Gerli for the acquisition of an apartment where he resided in Panama, and which the Panamanian lawyer recently registered under his own name using a series of forged documents.

The prosecution office confirms that Ismael Gerli forged a number of public deeds to change the Directorship of companies that he himself had incorporated for Vladimir Kokorev in his capacity as their lawyer, in an attempt to take over the real estate properties owned by those companies. In connection to the same matter, another 7 counts of embezzlement, fraud and forgery have been admitted by Criminal Court N3 of the First District of Panama, with formal decisions on those expected in the near future.

Several years ago, Mr. Gerli had been charged for money laundering in the case against Arnoldo Aleman, former president of Nicaragua, currently serving a 20 year sentence. Ismael Gerli was retained by the ex-president to create a number of companies in Panama, which were allegedly used to launder money with origins in corrupt practices in Nicaragua.

More recently, Ismael Gerli has prominently figured in “Panama Papers” as the front man of several dozen companies registered in Panama, linked to individual investors in Spain and public officials in Ukraine, among others.