In a press conference yesterday, Panama’s Comptroller General Anel Flores announced the results of an extensive audit, begun on Jan. 25, of Panama Ports Company (PPC), the subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings Co. in Panama, which holds the 25-year-long concession for the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, located at either end of the Panama Canal. These are the two ports that Donald Trump claimed were evidence that China “ran” the Canal but were scheduled to be sold to the U.S. investment firm BlackRock in a deal announced on March 4 that seemed to meet with Trump’s approval.
The Comptroller’s several-thousand-page audit report was a scathing indictment of Hutchinson, charging it with gross financial misconduct in managing the concession which deprived the state of $1.3 billion in revenue, illegally extended the contract in 2021, failed to provide necessary documentation, and used tax-exempt subcontractors for renovations to reduce the amounts to be paid to the government, among other things, reported Hong Kong’s [South China Morning Post] today(https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3305584/hong-kongs-ck-hutchison-did-not-uphold-panama-canal-ports-contract-panama-audit) today.
