European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 08, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes monday january 8,1990 records detail Panama corruption los Angeles Dpi records that escaped systematic destruction by fleeing supporters of toppled panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega Indi Cate that hundreds of millions of dollars were squandered on salaries of political cronies whose Only work was to collect paychecks it was reported sunday. Investigators with the new  govern ment have prepared More than 300 cases of corruption against former Noriega officials accused of pm firing the Treasury through payroll padding and a variety of other embezzlement schemes the los Angeles times said. With Noriega in jail in the United states the new regime has turned to dealing with the mess he left Bonind. Files indicate the level of corruption was far greater than imagined. Don t congratulate  said the new mayor of Panama City Guillermo Cochez. It s All craziness Here. The Public administration of the Noriega regime was based Only on seeing How much they could steal. And what they stole was  after a week in City Hall Cochez asked the new prosecutor to file charges in two corruption cases against the former mayor Jilma Noriega who for Merly claimed to be related to Manuel Noriega but no longer docs. Cochez said that for the past four years mayor no Riega personally raked off half of the municipal tax payments delivered to City Hall each january about is 0,000 every Day of the month. The panamanian Justice system corrupted during 21 years of military Rule is being overhauled to Settle disputes and to try a growing docket of corruption cases. But the court Reform has been delayed and complicated by the sabotage of supreme court records the Day after the . Invasion began dec. 20. Court workers told of seeing supreme court Magis trates setting fire to their own files. A Blac swept through the court offices in the Justice ministry head quarters destroying most of the Case records. What the fire did t destroy the fire hoses did said Cesar Quintero one of eight newly appointed magistrates on the nine member court. This was t the work of common looters but High level officials. They did this to make the new court s work More difficult and to destroy old cases of Justice being rigged and sold  the Justice ministry building now abandoned is filled with computers copiers fax machines and filing cabinets systematically smashed with axes and Iron bars. Despite the sabotage about 40 tons of files seized from government offices and Homes of Noriega sup porters have been taken to . Military bases in Panama for scrutiny by the Cia and . Drug enforce ment administration. A treasure of financial information also survived in the computer room at the Headquarters of the control Ler general the nation s top fiscal investigator. The building suffered $1 million damage from rocket firing . Helicopters. Many of the 300 corruption cases prepared by Pana Manian investigators and forwarded to the new attorney general Stem from the growing economic Power of Noriega s now disbanded panamanian defense forces. The military sucked profits out of everything from vehicle registration to import Export Trade and grew even wealthier As economic sanctions against Noriega drove the rest of the country into a deep recession. There s everything in those files an investigator said. Widespread corruption Money laundering con Traband graft payola it was a big  the new Endara government also is scrambling to identify and eliminate phantom employees and thus save an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars in salaries. Such employees have been found in All government institutions one official said. At the presidential pal Ace for instance the first 47 employees below Noriega s handpicked president Francisco Rodriguez did not work in the Palace earned $1.500 to $3,000 a month and carried such titles As coordinator of plan Ning or executive  no Bones about if $ 15,000 Doghouse � s a dream Richard Ziegler tries to coax one of his two pets Crissy into the palatial Doghouse he built fur $15,000. Great Falls a. A in the heart of this fashionable Washington suburb there s a Yuppie Man Sion that s gone to the  luxurious amenities of the Doghouse that Rich Ard t. Ziegler built for Crissy his while German Shep Herd and ., his Doberman pins Char. Would Strain the hyperbole of a real estate and writer. These Doggie digs feature a Redwood Cathedral Ceil ing an italian porcelain tile floor solid brass fixtures a Terra Cotta Chimney for the fake flagst9ne fireplace a Cedar shake roof and double paned windows with a space healer to keep in toasty on Winter nights. Outside there s a kidney shaped Pool surrounded by a Patio deck and Rock Garden. And All for Only $15,000. Ziegler had the Doghouse designed As a miniature 8 fool version of the $3.5 million contemporary Victo Rian mansion that Ziegler built for himself on 25 acres of rolling Woodland in the Virginia Countryside West of Washington. He said he would build an equally lavish guest cottage below the Doggie Pool to House c Rissy s and  S overnight visitors. It s a Doggone shame but the two dogs hardly Ever use their posh living quarters except to Flop Down on the Cool tile floor for Relief on hot summer Days Zieg Ler said. Unlike the Doghouse that Jim and Tammy Bakker built this one in t air conditioned. So far Crissy and  Have Only dipped their paws in the Pool Ziegler said although they enjoy sprawling on the deck to spy on squirrels and other wildlife scam Pering in the  spend most of the time in my House 1 he said. They sleep on their own bed right in the master bed room. You Don t Tell a Doberman where he s going to  Ziegler 53, a Developer whose companies have built two do in shopping centers in metropolitan washing ton. North Carolina and the san Francisco Bay area in t the sort of Man who d Nail a few pieces of ply Wood together to make a Doghouse like most folks. Trident sub program heading for rough Waters Washington a the Trident submarine program is sailing into Choppy seas in 1990. With the Pentagon considering halving the production rate and with congressional critics poised to divert its funding into a peace dividend. The submarines arc a key Clement in the nation s three pronged nuclear de sense system. Each sub armed with 192 nuclear warheads costs $1.2 billion Money that critics contend could be spent on Domestic programs or on reducing the Federal deficit. Opponents argue that the 17 Trident already in the water or under construction arc enough to hold up the seagoing leg of the nuclear triad of missiles bomb ers and submarines. Those arguments arc expected to be pursued with renewed vigor at the end of this month when con Gress begins debating next Yeai s Federal budget. I would say that the Battle lines arc going to be drawn very quickly among some of the liberals who Are trying to Cut the defense budget said rep. John Rowland a Conn. Rowland is concerned about the Fate of the Trident which Are built in his Home state. Two defense department sources speaking on condition of anonymity said the 1991 Pentagon budget May pro pose building a Trident every other year instead of the current annual construction schedule. General dynamics elec tric boat division in Groton Conn., which has built All the Trident and which has Only one other competitor would Bear the Brunt of such a slow Down. "1 would expect that if in fact the administration docs recommend an Al Ternate year program which is not a cataclysm but a step Back from full support there will be a major argument on the floor said sen. Joseph Lic Barman d Conn. For the past year sen. Dale bumpers,d-ark., has been pushing for a construction slowdown based on commitment the Reagan administration made in strategic arms talks with the soviet Union. Tentative Start agreements reached in Geneva in w87 would limit the num Ber of ballistic missile warheads to 4,900. Under the current Trident program the number of warheads aboard the subs alone would approach that figure within a few years. I m just trying to save a Little Money bumpers said. My objection is we Are continuing to produce Trident on the old schedule and in Light of the Tymn tic agreement in the Start talks thai just does t make  when the Senate returns Jan. 23, dumpers said he will be ready with his proposal again regardless of whether the Bush administration endorses the slow Down idea. The Arkansas Democrat said the continued warming of .-Sqvict relations would add momentum to his proposal