Manuel Antonio Noriega accepted $300,000 in cash from a convicted American drug smuggler who said he wanted to launder millions of dollars through Panamanian banks with Noriega`s help, a former member of Noriega`s inner circle testified Thursday in the former Panamanian dictator`s trial.
Enrique ”Kiki” Pretelt, 49, who described himself as one of Noriega`s closest friends in the early 1980s, said he was present in September 1983 when the smuggler, Steven Kalish, gave Noriega a briefcase stuffed with $100 bills. Pretelt said he looked inside the briefcase before Kalish`s meeting with Noriega and saw that it held money.
He said Kalish, who was traveling under the name Frank Brown, told him it was $300,000. Earlier in the day, Kalish deposited $2.5 million in cash in the Panama City branch of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, Pretelt said.
He said Kalish had told him earlier that he might launder between $60 million and $80 million through Panama. Pretelt said Noriega operated as a
”silent partner” to help money launderers who dealt directly with Pretelt and another Noriega associate.
Pretelt`s testimony marked the first time a close Noriega associate had taken the stand and told of having seen Noriega accept a bribe from a drug dealer.
Noriega is not charged in his Miami indictment with accepting the September 1983 payment.
