A person close to the high court said all nine judges voted to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Martinelli over allegations he inflated contracts worth $45 million to purchase dehydrated food for a government social program. Martinelli, a billionaire supermarket magnate, has denied the charges and says he is the target of political persecution by his successor, Juan Carlos Varela, who broke with the government in 2011 while serving as Martinelli's vice president and foreign minister. In one case, prosecutors seized a yacht, mansion and other assets worth $18 million allegedly paid for with kickbacks to another close Martinelli aide who succeeded Tamburelli as head of the government's leading social program.