Saturday, May 31, 2014

BEARER SHARES FRAUDSTERS FLEECE FOREIGNERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA | Wanted SA |

FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner Senior Advocate & Consulaire for WANTED SA ~ 


Analysis and Commentary by a former Money Launderer ~ Mr. Kenneth Rijock |
Sunday April 22, 2012 - REPRINT ALERT - 

REPUBLIC OF PANAMA ~ A COUNTRY OF CORRUPTION, FRAUDSTERS, COCAINE & MONEY LAUNDERING | PART 1 - SERIES 1 |

Reports abound that more than one thousand real estate frauds have been committed in theRepublic of Panama in the past three years. Most of the victims are from the European Union, the United States and Canada, and they share one thing in common: the fraudsters who exploited those utilized corporations with bearer shares to accomplish their criminal objectives. here's how it works:

(1) A purchaser of real estate is advised, by his broker, attorney or other professional, to take title in the name of a corporation, whether for purposes of secrecy, for tax avoidance, or to avoid disclosure of his or her assets overseas.

(2) A Panamanian corporation is selected by the client's advisor; this company has bearer shares which possess what I regard as two fatal flaws. The name of the owner of such shares never appears anywhere on the certificate, and they are the property of whomever has physical possession.
Furthermore, there is no registry maintained with corporate records identifying shareholders by name.

(3) To obtain the necessary bank loan to purchase the realty, the client executes a security agreement, or escrow agreement, or some other contractual obligation, all of which serve to use the shares as collateral for the loan. Sometimes the documents operate to transfer ownership of the shares to the financial institution that is the lender.

(4) Now its interesting; the fraudster, with the collusion of a corrupt (and well paid) Notary Public, forges the purchaser's signature on a document, which is notarized in the total physical absence of the purported signer (the client) and title is immediately transferred over to the fraudster.

(5) the client closes on the purchase, takes possession, begins to make monthly mortgage payments, only to learn months later that an unknown party has legal and equitable title, and is seeking to take possession; It becomes a nightmare, which only gets worse.

(6) The client retains a Panamanian attorney, who seeks civil, and in some cases, criminal, relief, only to find out that the local judiciary is corrupt, and that a bribe was probably paid to a judge to sit on the case indefinitely.
The fraudster may warn the client that he is connected to the President of Panama (which may be true), that the client will never succeed in court, and that he actually may be arrested if he pursues his claim.
Reports that business partners of the president are committing these fraudulent acts have circulated throughout Panama City.

(7) The client is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place: he is legally obligated on the mortgage, but he is no longer the owner, and he may even been evicted from the premises, by the authorities, acting on behalf of the new "owner," who may try a number of ploys, including forcing his former client to pay "rent" on the real estate, which, in addition to the mortgage payments, may be too much for client to bear. He returns to his country, and the fraudster then sells the real estate, or looks for another victim, whom he may try to sell the same realty to, and perpetrate his next bearer share fraud.

(8) This type of fraud has exploded in Panama during the past three years, and nobody in government appears to want to stop it.

NOTE: Does anyone who is sane want to risk their savings and invest in the Republic of Panama?
WANTED SA kindly thanks Kenneth Rijock, Associated Press, DEA, FBI, Westlaw, Arutz Sheva, and all the Parties, Press, Journalists, Law Enforcement and Securities Groups who have contributed to the many articles and their sincere opinions and statements.
WANTED SA confirms that the majority of the banks in the Republic of Panama support excellent anti money laundering efforts and will close any bank account suspected of any form of illegal activities. The majority of the banks retain excellent Compliance and Due Diligence Bank Officers.
WANTED SA states that the facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of WANTED SA. We do not warrant the accuracy of any of the facts and opinions stated in this article nor do we endorse them or accept any form of responsibility for the articles.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

GARY JAMES LUNDGREN CHAIRMAN OF INTERPACIFIC INVESTORS SERVICES COMMITS “BEARER SHARE FRAUD” IN PANAMA |

FROM THE - CHRONICLES of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA~

~Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock ~


HOW PANAMA'S BEARER SHARE FRAUD SCHEMES OPERATE

While we have discussed a number of cases, all occurring in the Republic of Panama, where expats become victims of bearer share fraud, we have not covered the actual tradecraft employed by the fraudsters. There are basically two varieties that I am familiar with:

(1) In the first method, the seller of real estate, or his lawyer, advises the purchaser, usually a national from North America, or Europe, that he will rent out the condominium or home, that the victim just purchased, to produce an income stream for the client, and to do so, he needs possession of the bearer shares, of the corporation that is in title, to demonstrate that he has the power to rent out the realty.

After the client leaves Panama, the fraudster transfers title into an entity he owns or controls. When the victim next returns to Panama, he finds out that:

(a) He is no longer the owner; and

(b) The corrupt criminal justice system will not assist him, because the police and/or the prosecutor have already been paid off by the fraudster to bury any complaint.

(c) If he wants to stay in his own property, he will have to pay rent to the fraudster.

(2) The second method involves outright forgery of stock certificates and other interests. In that case, any instruments given to the fraudster by the victim, form the basis of forged assignment of bearer shares, bills of sale, corporate resolution, and other closing documents.

Again, any efforts by the victim to seek legal redress through the court system is frustrated by files intentionally lost at the police station and the prosecutor's office, bogus counter-charges filed by the fraudster's lawyers, and other intentionally dilatory tactics.

There are no statistics on how many expats have lost their real estate investments to these scammers, but it certainly numbers in the hundreds, if not more.

Most victims, having experienced the dark side of Panamanian justice, do not engage in further investments, especially after their attorneys give them a quick tutorial on the corrupt civil court system, where cases can languish for a decade, unless corrupt Supreme Court of Justice judges are paid off.

One of the most active fraudsters in the Republic of Panama, according to his victims, is Gary James Lundgren, whom we have covered here before, due to his curious partnership with Panama's President, Ricardo Martinelli, and his relationship as the "investment advisor" to David Eduardo Murcia Guzmán, the convicted Ponzi schemer. Mr. Lundgren has reportedly defrauded a large number of purchasers of the Bellagio Tower, by forging documents, and illegally taking title to the real estate investments of others.



Now that his "godfather," President Martinelli, is about to leave office, you will see that a number of the pending lawsuits against Lundgren, by victims, will move forward.

The role of his in-house attorney, Alcides Peña, in Lundgren's fraudulent activity, is being examined, as his widespread use of obviously forged documents, and documents that are inconsistent on their face, raises the issue of his culpability in these frauds.

The new president of Panama, who has vowed to attack corruption and white-collar crime, will hopefully see to it that bearer share fraud is vigorously prosecuted.

_________________________________________________________

READ MORE ON: www.wantedsa.com
FROM THE - CHRONICLES of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA~

~Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock ~

WANTED SA kindly thanks US Treasury, Kenneth Rijock, AFP, Reuters, BBC, Associated Press, DEA, FBI, ICE, Westlaw, Arutz Sheva, and all the Parties, Press, Journalists, Law Enforcement and Securities forces  who have contributed to the many articles and their sincere opinions and statements.

WANTED SA states that the facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of WANTED SA. We do not warrant the accuracy of any of the facts and opinions stated in this article nor do we endorse them or accept any form of responsibility for the articles.


Monte Friesner, Kenneth Rijock

GARY JAMES LUNDGREN CHAIRMAN OF INTERPACIFIC INVESTORS SERVICES COMMITS “BEARER SHARE FRAUD” IN PANAMA |


FROM THE - CHRONICLES of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA~

~Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock ~


HOW PANAMA'S BEARER SHARE FRAUD SCHEMES OPERATE

While we have discussed a number of cases, all occurring in the Republic of Panama, where expats become victims of bearer share fraud, we have not covered the actual tradecraft employed by the fraudsters. There are basically two varieties that I am familiar with:

(1) In the first method, the seller of real estate, or his lawyer, advises the purchaser, usually a national from North America, or Europe, that he will rent out the condominium or home, that the victim just purchased, to produce an income stream for the client, and to do so, he needs possession of the bearer shares, of the corporation that is in title, to demonstrate that he has the power to rent out the realty.

After the client leaves Panama, the fraudster transfers title into an entity he owns or controls. When the victim next returns to Panama, he finds out that:

(a) He is no longer the owner; and

(b) The corrupt criminal justice system will not assist him, because the police and/or the prosecutor have already been paid off by the fraudster to bury any complaint.

(c) If he wants to stay in his own property, he will have to pay rent to the fraudster.

(2) The second method involves outright forgery of stock certificates and other interests. In that case, any instruments given to the fraudster by the victim, form the basis of forged assignment of bearer shares, bills of sale, corporate resolution, and other closing documents.

Again, any efforts by the victim to seek legal redress through the court system is frustrated by files intentionally lost at the police station and the prosecutor's office, bogus counter-charges filed by the fraudster's lawyers, and other intentionally dilatory tactics.

There are no statistics on how many expats have lost their real estate investments to these scammers, but it certainly numbers in the hundreds, if not more.

Most victims, having experienced the dark side of Panamanian justice, do not engage in further investments, especially after their attorneys give them a quick tutorial on the corrupt civil court system, where cases can languish for a decade, unless corrupt Supreme Court of Justice judges are paid off.

One of the most active fraudsters in the Republic of Panama, according to his victims, is Gary James Lundgren, whom we have covered here before, due to his curious partnership with Panama's President, Ricardo Martinelli, and his relationship as the "investment advisor" to David Eduardo Murcia Guzmán, the convicted Ponzi schemer. Mr. Lundgren has reportedly defrauded a large number of purchasers of the Bellagio Tower, by forging documents, and illegally taking title to the real estate investments of others.

Now that his "godfather," President Martinelli, is about to leave office, you will see that a number of the pending lawsuits against Lundgren, by victims, will move forward.

The role of his in-house attorney, Alcides Peña, in Lundgren's fraudulent activity, is being examined, as his widespread use of obviously forged documents, and documents that are inconsistent on their face, raises the issue of his culpability in these frauds.

The new president of Panama, who has vowed to attack corruption and white-collar crime, will hopefully see to it that bearer share fraud is vigorously prosecuted.

_____________________________________________________________