Panama case leads to lawsuit in Boulder court

Panama case leads to lawsuit in Boulder court
Suit: Ex-business partner falsely kept man in 'hellish' prison
By Ryan Morgan (Contact)

Friday, January 18, 2008
Photo by Joshua Lawton
Bobby Hammond, of Lafayette, spent six months in a Panama jail after a business partner had him arrested.

A Boulder man who spent six months in a Panamanian prison has sued his former business partner, a Marshall woman who had him imprisoned when a land-development deal went south in 2006.
Robert Hammond and his girlfriend, Tamara Pace, are seeking unspecified damages against Kim Opler. The suit alleges Opler used Panama's corrupt legal system to keep Hammond in prison over what should have been a civil matter -- and that she knew the charges against him weren't true.
Opler didn't return a call seeking comment Thursday.
Hammond's legal problems stemmed from a partnership he formed with Pace and Opler to develop properties in Bocas del Toro, a booming beach community near Panama's border with Costa Rica. The partnership between the couple and Opler soured, and Opler told the Camera in 2006 that Hammond and Pace stonewalled her attempts to recover the money she'd invested in several properties.
In early January 2006, Hammond was thrown into prison. He wouldn't be released until July of that year. At the time, Opler said Hammond hadstolen her property and needed to cooperate.
"It's a bummer, isn't it?" she said. "But what you need to know is that this is not just something where for no reason, out of the blue, this is happening to him, and he's sitting there suffering for no reason."
But Hammond and Pace said no charges were ever brought against him. He was eventually released and allowed to return home.
The six months he spent in a hellish prison were devastating to his physical and mental well-being, Hammond said Thursday. He slipped and fell in the shower early in his incarceration, breaking his collarbone. He said he never received proper medical treatment, and the pain continues today.
"I can't sleep on my right side," he said. "With my shoulder the way it is, I can't stop thinking about it."
The lawsuit -- filed this week in Boulder County District Court -- contends that at the maximum-security prison where he stayed, Hammond was "housed with convicted killers and persons associated with the cartel drug lords." The prison has been criticized in U.S. State Department reports that said prisoners face unduly harsh conditions, including water shortages.

Hammond said he had to fight for basic necessities at the prison such as food, water and a bunk to sleep in.

"I wouldn't want anyone to end up there," he said. "It's the most inhumane situation I've ever seen -- much less had to live through."
Hammond's girlfriend was also detained briefly and later released. Pace spent the next year campaigning for Hammond's release from prison and later to have him taken off of house arrest. She said deciding to sue wasn't easy, but she and Hammond need justice.
"I think Bobby needs some vindication," she said. "His reputation is damaged all over town, people are wondering if he really stole a million dollars. And he wants people to know that he didn't."

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/jan/18/panama-case-leads-to-lawsuit-in-boulder-court/

--- In Panama_laws_for_expats@yahoogroups.com, "likitikitoo" wrote:
Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:40 am
My self and my boyfriend were arrested last week by PTJ in our home. This
was over a business dispute that at most should have been a civil case. My
Boyfriend, Bobby Hammond, as well as myself were charged with Aggravated
Fraud. I was released with all charges dropped after 32 hours. Bobby was
working with a Boulder Colorado resident, Kim Opler for the last three years
purchasing and developing properties in Bocas. They never had a contract
and there is disagreement about comissions. Until the disagreement was
settled the titles, which were in Bobby's name, were not signed over to Ms.
Opler as she requested. In Ms. Opler's statement her attorney, Nelson
Carreyo, stated that he attempted to reach Bobby about this and couldn't. We
were never presented with any documents to sign.
Previously, we had received threats, both in Panama and Colorado, from her
partner, Dana Gaffin who already has a record in North Carolina for
Harrassing Communications as well as Violence Against Women. He had
also broke into our home in Bocas, stole our private property
to use as his own and threatened our employees.

Bobby is now in a maximum security facility with deplorable conditions. I am
asking for help from anyone in any form. This is not a criminal matter, much
less punishable by imprisonment. There has been no hearing date set. There
has been no bond amount set. Our embassy, which was very helpful in
securing my release has not helped with Bobby's case. Going over the names
on this list, many of you know Bobby and me. I hope you also know that there
is no way we could be guilty of this. If you have any suggestion please write or
call my cell, 011 507 XXXX. Thanks, Tammy Pace.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Panama_laws_for_expats/message/906

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Jailed over a contract dispute: Bobby Hammond's and Tammy Pace's story

Economist: The G20 and tax - Haven hypocrisy

http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13382279

Finance and economics

The G20 and tax

Haven hypocrisy

Mar 26th 2009 | BERLIN
From The Economist print edition

Big economies are leaning on offshore tax havens. But greater abuse may be taking place at home

MONEY launderers are moved by greed, unlike Jason Sharman, a political scientist at Australia’s Griffith University. Yet with a budget of $10,000 and little more than Google (and the ads at the back of this paper), he showed how easy it was to circumvent prohibitions on banking secrecy, forming anonymous shell companies and secret bank accounts across the world. In doing so he has uncovered an uncomfortable truth for many of the leaders of Group of 20 nations meeting on April 2nd to discuss, among other things, sanctions against offshore tax havens. The most egregious examples of banking secrecy, money laundering and tax fraud are found not in remote alpine valleys or on sunny tropical isles but in the backyards of the world’s biggest economies.

Panoramic ImagesWyoming, the Switzerland of the Rocky Mountains

At issue is not banking secrecy as the Swiss once knew it, where discreet men in plush offices promised to take the names of their clients to the grave. This is a more insidious form of secrecy, in which authorities and bankers do not bother to ask for names, something long outlawed in offshore tax centres such as Jersey and Switzerland but which has persisted in America. For shady clients, this is a far better proposition: what their bankers do not know, they can never be forced to reveal. And their method is disarmingly simple. Instead of opening bank accounts in their own names, fraudsters and money launderers form anonymous companies, with which they can then open bank accounts and move assets.

Nowhere is this more prevalent than in America. Take Nevada, for example. Its official website touts its “limited reporting and disclosure requirements” and a speedy one-hour incorporation service. Nevada does not ask for the names of company shareholders, nor does it routinely share the little information it has with the federal government.

There is demand for this ask-no-questions approach. The state, with a population of only 2.6m, incorporates about 80,000 new firms a year and now has more than 400,000, roughly one for every six people. A study by the Internal Revenue Service found that 50-90% of those registering companies were already in breach of federal tax laws elsewhere.

A money-laundering threat assessment in 2005 by the federal government found that corporate anonymity offered by Delaware, Nevada and Wyoming rivalled that of familiar offshore financial centres. For foreigners, America is a particularly attractive place to stash cash, because it does not tax the interest income they earn. Thus with both anonymity and no taxation, America offers them all the elements of a tax haven.

Change may be coming in America, but slowly. In March Senator Carl Levin proposed a law forcing states to identify the beneficial owners of corporations. “For too long, criminals have misused US corporations to hide illicit activity, including money laundering and tax fraud,” said Mr Levin. “It doesn’t make sense that less information is required to form a US corporation than to obtain a driver’s licence.”

Yet a similar bill introduced last year died a quiet death in committee.

America is not the only rich nation Mr Sharman tested. He tried to open anonymous shell companies and bank accounts 45 times across the world. These were successful in 17 cases, of which 13 were in OECD countries. One example was Britain, where in 45 minutes on the internet he formed a company without providing identification, was issued with bearer shares (which have been almost universally outlawed because they confer completely anonymous ownership) as well as nominee directors and a secretary. All was achieved at a cost of £515.95 ($753).

In other cases Mr Sharman formed companies by providing no more than a scanned copy of his driving licence. In contrast, when trying to open accounts in Bermuda and Switzerland, he was asked for documentation such as notarised copies of his birth certificate. “In practice OECD countries have much laxer regulation on shell corporations than classic tax havens,” Mr Sharman concludes. “And the US is the worst on this score, worse than Liechtenstein and worse than Somalia.”

Back to top ^^

Readers' comments

The Economist welcomes your views.

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Dirk Gently wrote:

April 2, 2009 8:06

The article seems to provide useful tips for anyone wanting to hide wealth. I only wish I were wealthy enough to take advantage of it!

However, some comments here have suggested that the article is misleading and that the USA (for example) is less of a tax haven than it implies. I don't know the truth of the matter, but I suppose we shouldn't believe everything we read, even in The Economist.

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danwun wrote:

April 1, 2009 17:29

I just found proof of the UK tax hypocrisy. Right on the Economist's main page, right at the bottom of classified ads, there is this link:

http://www.scfgroup.com/

Offshore & UK Companies
Wealth Protection
Confidential Banking
Trusts and Foundations
By UK lawyers and Accountants

Again, outrage over so much lies and hypocrisy! But don't worry UK and US, it will be your turn to be the scapegoats soon! I really cannot believe this, it's absolutely outrageous! No wonder the US and UK could cheat the world into the Irak war, just keeping telling lies without blushing.

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Petlura wrote:

April 1, 2009 8:13

Dear Geri964 - Maybe the US can find the US$300 bln leakage by overhauling the tax system. Simple and lower taxes is a great incentive to compliance. The second thing is using those tax US$s wisely and not on a vendetta war. There you go, I found your US$300 bln.

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danwun wrote:

April 1, 2009 5:15

Congratulations, Economist! Once again, we can see which magazines and newspapers offer quality journalism. And which ones just aggravate the scapegoat spiel of the OECD. The Financial Times is a very bad example of the latter.

As a Swiss, I both feel deeply shocked by what sort of criminal bankers our bank secrecy managed to cover. It was really hard to believe, we feel deeply ashamed. Frankly, I am also outraged, however, by the hypocritical bashing of non-G20-"tax havens". A lot of people in Switzerland, Austria and other so-called tax havens see the global crackdown on tax havens as just a forceful way of financial protectionism, chiefly by the US and the UK. I'm sure other people in other nations realize this, too. E.g. the German magazine Spiegel had an article on UK tax haven hypocrisy, too.

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poiu qwer wrote:

March 31, 2009 23:40

I hope honourable delegates at the G20 summit will read this article and analyze their own shortcomings. It is much harder to clean up at home than bashing so called tax heavens. Probably populism will prevail.

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Geri964 wrote:

March 31, 2009 19:33

"G-20 Summit by Jonathan Weisman, Wall Street Journal: U.S. officials preparing for the group of 20 economic summit on Thursday in London are playing down fiscal-stimulus targets and focusing on objectives such as new rules for TAX HAVENS and coordination of financial regulation."
Financial resources are limited and when too much is siphoned off due to income tax evasion (U.S. alone $300 billion) and stashed away in offshore tax havens, the entire economic system collapses. Economic disparities and imbalances do count because all resources, including financial ones, are limited.
The only way to get the worldwide economy going again is to collect all of the back taxes and penalties and get this money back into circulation. There is no other way.
If Switzerland is doing nothing wrong, then they should having nothing to hide and be willing to disclose banking information. It is Switzerland's own fault that they have been designated as a tax haven for many decades. If they didn't want to be designated as a tax haven, then they should never have engaged in tax haven activities.

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sammy yuka wrote:

March 31, 2009 10:44

The USA cannot bow to the wishes of the EU and their high tax regimes. the reason why they want the Swiss banks out of the picture is so they can raise taxes. Soon, we will follow. Those rich people would gladly pay some taxes. But not when the taxes are spent by a bunch of liberal baffoons.
The other banks in the world should emulate the Swiss, not try to destroy them. If all countries were "tax havens", the citizens would keep their money at home.
All these high tax liberal socialist countries would rather destroy the Swiss banks than to COMPETE with them. What happened to the US competitive spirit. Our desire to be competitive has been the reason why we are so great. Let's COMPETE with the Swiss. Let's have an incentive for our US citizens to keep their money in the USA. Let's beat the Swiss at their own game.
Senator Levin spent years trying to force the Swiss to give up the names of US citizens that have accounts at Swiss banks. If he would have spent all that time and our taxpayer money finding ways to COMPETE with them, we wouldn't be talking about it today .And besides that, let the USA once and for
all quit meddling in the affairs of another country.
If the Swiss have no privacy, look for a WORLD WIDE SURGE IN TAXES

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Danila_FTC wrote:

March 30, 2009 7:28

BankingITGuru wrote: "Money from poor countries is hashed away in swiss banks which are deploying that money in the developed world thus funding credit and growth".
It is partly rightly, of course, especially for money of individuals. But don't forget that in vast majority of cases hidden and washed money returns back to developing countries in a view of foreign investments. In relation of corporation in emerging country and not just, final beneficiary in either case is not offshore-based holding company, but shareholders in country of operating.
Moreover, tax evasion and so-called "tax avoidance" (agressive tax planning's shemes) are different terms.

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BankingITGuru wrote:

March 30, 2009 4:30

Tax evasion is the value proposition of these havens for developed economies only. For the third and under developed world's rich, the proposition is 'hiding away' ill-gotten money.

There is an urgent need to unlock these depositors to ensure the developmental plans of world bodies and governments are effectively applied.It is so painful to realise that money swindled by the exploitative rich of the 3rd world (that is sorely needed for the developing world) is in the coffers of a few swiss banks.

It is all a wonderful cycle. Money from poor countries is hashed away in swiss banks which are deploying that money in the developed world thus funding credit and growth. (One cant expect the cash to be in lockers). Poor countries then 'borrow' from IMF etc. Its a bit quirky to know who is funding whom.

It is high time that something is done about this.

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Danila_FTC wrote:

March 29, 2009 20:47

I don't think it is a best time to tussle with an offshores in the current economic climate. In either case, it will not give short-term effect for both G20 countries' budgets and companies. Even vice versa: when many companies are looking for any ways for cost reduction, maybe, efficiency of tax structure can be a top-of-the-table point which will allow it to stay alive? It should be in spotlight to improve transparency and attractiveness of your own tax system. But internal offshores are separate theme, of course.

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jterry wrote:

March 29, 2009 19:29

Finally Bermuda is getting some good press for its status as a tax haven. T

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jterry wrote:

March 29, 2009 19:29

Finally Bermuda is getting some good press for its status as a tax haven. T

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bornhoaxer wrote:

March 29, 2009 18:34

this can be a wake up call for everyone concerned in the rich developed world....it is indeed surprising to know the shockingly low level of scrutiny that is exercised in the opening up of companies.....

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nino01 wrote:

March 29, 2009 1:28

It is a simple law of arithmetics. Hiding 100 millions dollars in a large economy like the USA , and moving it around should be more easy that in Lichtenstein, where the day you make such a deposit , the whole town will know.
The story of tax heavens have been popularized by the film industry . Sure there have been famous cases like dictator Marco from the Phillipines, but I doubt that tax heavens are used by the drug mafias of the world.
I think that law enforcements just do not know. As usual the criminal gangs are a few steps ahead of the law.

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Scott Free wrote:

March 28, 2009 18:39

This article is interesting but misleading. These US States offer easy and economical company incorporation in line with that of tax havens. However to avoid USA controls and taxation they tend to have bank accounts offshore and are managed outside of the USA (normally from a tax haven). It is the offshore tax haven that is the operational arm of these corporations. Only the registered office remains in the US State.

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Davesh wrote:

March 28, 2009 13:11

The author has rightly pointed out the double speak on the issue.as a bigger country/economy first they should clean their backyards before preaching others. Yes there should not be any place called tax heaven. Also ther should be standard procedure to be followed by all financial institutes in the world regarding customers. yes, we can not move in haste but with a resonable time frame to adopt those standard procedure. World is in a great financial mess .we have to work towards new financial order for the world..

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M.L.Jones wrote:

March 27, 2009 20:11

As the former owner of a Delaware company, I am a little puzzled on how one can hide money from taxation without violating various US tax laws - perhaps lax enforcement is the real issue. In order to open a bank account, I needed a corporate tax id. While this could be done over a lawyers name, once the id number is issued, the corporation itself must pay income tax on any income, or if an S corp provide reports to the IRS on who got the income so that they can be taxed.

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t309494 wrote:

March 27, 2009 17:22

Very interesting:Mr Obama and his fellow Sen Levin need a lot of nerve to denounce Switzerland es a tax havens in front of the G 20 without looking behind their back the mist in their country.

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Petlura wrote:

March 27, 2009 7:13

The hypocrisy of all gov'ts targeting tax havens is appalling!! If their tax systems were fair in the first place and most citizens believed in the way the money was being spent, there would be no need for tax havens. God help us all if gov'ts ever succeed in eliminating tax havens. Then they will have a free hand in taxing us al the way to the moon and back!!

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paul mason wrote:

March 27, 2009 6:40

So is the Economist going to knock back those ads in future? It would be a tad hypocritical not to.

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NPR: Tax havens come clean ahead of G-20

Ahead of the G-20 summit, the British government is trumpeting a crackdown on tax evaders from certain countries. But some of the biggest tax havens may be found in the countries doing the whining. Stephen Beard reports.
Listen to this Story

TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: President Obama landed in London this evening. He's there for a big economic summit that starts Thursday. Leaders of the world's top twenty economies are going to try to figure out how to stop the global slowdown. They'll talk about stimulus packages and tighter regulations. It's not clear what actually might come out of it.
But the Brits have already declared one G-20 breakthrough: a crackdown on tax havens. So, what does that have to do with an economic crisis? From London, Marketplace's Stephen Beard explains.
STEPHEN BEARD: Ten tax havens have apparently agreed to come clean. Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Monaco among them. They say they will share information about suspected tax evaders. The deal has been more than a decade in the making. But clinching it now could be a godsend for the U.S. and other big governments. Especially now. Tax revenues are shrinking; stimulus spending has taken off. Grace Perez-Navarro of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development:
GRACE PEREZ-NAVARRO: In the midst of a crisis it's very difficult to raise tax rates. So what can governments do? All they can try and do is make sure they collect every penny that is legally due. And this is part of that initiative.
But not everyone is impressed by the tax-haven breakthrough. Stephen Platt is a lawyer who prosecutes financial crime in offshore centers. He says the U.S., for one, should take a closer look in its own backyard.
STEPHEN PLATT: There are several states within the United States itself that have very, very lax controls, that attract very shady business.
Nevada, Wyoming and Delaware, he says, allow the kind of secrecy in which tax evasion flourishes. The kind of secrecy the U.S. denounces in the tax havens.
PLATT: This, I think, reveals a hypocrisy.
He says in some respects Britain is just as lax as America. And he claims Britain is bragging about the tax-haven breakthrough to distract attention from the regulatory failures in Britain and the U.S. that really caused the crisis.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org//display/web/2009/03/31/pm_g20_taxes/?refid=0##

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To form your own Delaware company click here

Gary Shapiro: Obama's Panama Opportunity

President Barack Obama will soon be making his first trip to Latin America to attend the Summit of the Americas. This visit is an important opportunity for the President to promote core U.S. values of democracy and freedom. Before his historic trip, President Obama should lay the foundation of these principles by signaling that his Administration will seek quick passage of pending trade agreements with Panama and Colombia that have long stalled in Congress and whose future is uncertain.
Passage of these agreements would immediately strengthen the relationship with these important allies and signal positive U.S. economic engagement in this vital region. Our economy needs exports. Over 95 percent of the world's population lives outside of the United States. We must look beyond our borders to increase market access for U.S. businesses to grow and create American jobs. The Panama and Colombia free trade agreements (FTAs) will help level the playing field for U.S. exports of goods and services. In fact, today some 5,600 American businesses export to Panama. Over 4,000 of these are small or medium-sized companies. Passage of the Panama agreement will empower these companies to expand their market opportunities and in doing so boost U.S. exports - one of the few bright spots in the economy. President Obama should call on Congress to pass the U.S.-Panama FTA without further and needless delay. These FTAs would not only eliminate tariffs, boost U.S. exports and increase economic engagement, but they also would also solidify America's presence in Latin America, a key strategic region.
Too often we forget that this region has been historically unstable. Today, we battle for the hearts and minds of the Continent against Hugo Chavez and his allies. Now more than ever, the United States must assist our Latin American friends and pass these pending trade agreements. With U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk in office, we should quickly advance the U.S. trade policy agenda. While labor unions have slowed action on the Colombian agreement, there is no reason to delay the Panama FTA.
We face a pivotal decision: Does the United States promote policies that lead to domestic job creation, or do we pursue a protectionist agenda that sets an example of our Latin American allies that shuns the economic freedoms we have long sought? Plus with Panama, we have another strong reason to move quickly: Panama is soon accepting bids for Latin America's largest public works project - a multi-billion dollar modernization of the Panama Canal. The Panama FTA gives US companies an equal shot in this huge project.The Panama FTA should pass before the President's trip, but he can and should signal that he also wants action on the Colombia FTA.
Given the Congressional move to protectionism on "Buy American" in the stimulus package and the treaty violating restriction on Mexican trucks in to the United States, President Obama needs something soon to calm the world that we are not closing our borders from the world. Passage of relatively non-controversial FTAs with our pro-democracy friends in is an obvious answer. If President Obama is serious about promoting our exports, if he is serious about tackling the ills of our economy, if he is serious about strengthening our friendships in Latin America, he must endorse the pending U.S. free trade agreements with Panama and Colombia and seek swift Congressional approval in Congress.

Posted March 20, 2009 12:20 PM (EST)

Gary Shapiro is the president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association.

As 3 Cabinet nominees have withdrawn from their nominations because of tax problems and "honest mistakes", Senator Levin introduced S.506 - the 2nd version of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act (previously the 2007 Obama-Levin bill S.681). The bill targets Panama and other countries as offshore secrecy jurisdictions:

(b) Definition of Offshore Secrecy Jurisdiction- Section 7701(a) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
`(50) OFFSHORE SECRECY JURISDICTION-
`(A) IN GENERAL- The term `offshore secrecy jurisdiction' means any foreign jurisdiction which is listed by the Secretary as an offshore secrecy jurisdiction for purposes of this title....
`(E) INITIAL LIST OF OFFSHORE SECRECY JURISDICTIONS- For purposes of this paragraph, each of the following foreign jurisdictions, which have been previously and publicly identified by the Internal Revenue Service as secrecy jurisdictions in Federal court proceedings, shall be deemed listed by the Secretary as an offshore secrecy jurisdiction unless delisted by the Secretary under subparagraph (F)(ii):
`(viii) British Virgin Islands.
`(xi) Costa Rica.
`(xii) Cyprus.
`(xvii) Hong Kong.
`(xviii) Isle of Man.
`(xix) Jersey.
`(xx) Latvia.
`(xxi) Liechtenstein.
`(xxii) Luxembourg.
`(xxvi) Panama.

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity has pointed out that these initiatives only put US business at a disadavantage when they export overseas, because companies from other countries will use the advantage that tax havens provide them, thereby increasing the number of US jobs lost http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/dorgan-levin-facts/dorgan-levin-facts.shtml .

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In advance of Wednesday's Senate hearing on Tax Haven Banks and U. S. Tax Compliance -- Obtaining the Names of U.S. Clients with Swiss Accounts, Senators Carl Levin (D-MI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and Bill Nelson (D-FL) yesterday introduced the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act:
Text of Bill
Summary of Bill
Sen. Levin Press Release
Sen. Levin Statement (Part 1, Part 2)
Reuters
Talking Points Memo
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2009/03/senators-introduce.html

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Full text of Bill http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.506:

Vote for/against the bill http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_SN_506.html
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_HR_1265.html

Panamanian president : Obama's election to raise expectations in Panama http://en.ce.cn/World/Americas/200811/06/t20081106_17301639.shtml

CF&P's Foundation's Tax Havens Video Trilogy at:http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/videos/taxhavens1-3/taxhavens1-3.shtml

Levin - Obama Bill seeks to end confidentiality of US corporations
http://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2008/07/levin-obama-bill-seeks-to-end.html

More changes to Immigration Regulations

Five months after having entered into force the new Immigration Decree regulations of Executive Decree 320 of 2008, the government amended several of its articles, reported Tayra Barsallo, deputy director of the National Immigration Service. For example, it eased the requirements for visas for seafarers, extended the term of visas for temporary workers, and reduced the cost of extending visa for domestic workers, among others. The changes in Executive Decree 26 0f 2009 were published in the Official Gazette No. 26,238, yesterday Wednesday.

See also New Regulations for Immigration Law are enacted

Panama to Watch Among Top Budget Travel Destinations for 2009

10 to Watch

Top Budget Travel Destinations for 2009

BudgetTravel.com reveals the best value hotspots for the New Year.

By BudgetTravel.com Editors, Monday, January 5, 2009 |

These countries are hardly undiscovered, but it's not too late to enjoy them either. Plan a trip in 2009, so you can say you knew these places before they were overrun.

10 TO WATCH

• Austin

• Berlin

• Budapest

• Cambodia

• Hawaii

• Mexico

• Panama

• Reykjavík

• Vancouver

• Washington, D.C.

PANAMA

Why in 2009: Panama has led tourism growth in Central and South American countries for two years running, posting back-to-back 20 and 30 percent gains in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Last year, the country surpassed the one-million-visitors mark, welcoming 1.2 million leisure travelers. That's about how popular Costa Rica was in 1999—before it emerged as a solidly mainstream destination. Compared with Costa Rica, Panama has more animal species and a larger amount of preserved terrain filled with colorful macaws, monkeys, and endangered shore birds.

Main events: The Panama Jazz Festival, held January 1–17, will feature saxophonist Wayne Shorter's quartet (panamajazzfestival.com, from $10). Panama's Carnival celebrations, running February 2–24, are some of the largest pre-Lenten parties in the world. The bulk of the parades and revelry will take place in Panama City and Las Tablas (visitpanama.com).

Memorable moment: Climb Cerro Jefe (Boss Mountain) in Chagres National Park, whose summit stands nearly 3,000 feet above sea level. When the weather cooperates, you can see the Panama Canal and both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (visitpanama.com). Back in the capital, thread your way through the cobbled streets lined with Spanish mansions in the colonial-era district of Casco Viejo, used as a stand-in for Haiti in many scenes in Quantum of Solace.

Price check: American Airlines Vacations has a three-night winter stay at the Veneto Hotel & Casino from $87 per person per night (aavacations.com). Keep a lid on costs by booking at locally owned inns. Among TripAdvisor's top rated B&Bs in Panama is La Estancia (011-507/314-1581, bedandbreakfastpanama.com, from $75 for singles and doubles). It's on a hill next to a nature reserve.

"Panama nightmare" From COTA Member, before you decide to do business in Panama, must read!

Date:	Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:02:40 -0700 [02/14/2009 01:02:40 PM EST]
From:	Gil Cisneros
Subject:	"Panama nightmare" From Bill Tolbert, COTA Member, before you decide to do business in Panama, must read!

For further information please contact Bill at:

mailto:billt%20@meneren.com

Gil: Following is the issue in more detail along with key articles and web links. Grand Panama International, a member of the Chamber of the Americas is asking for your personal action on this matter as it greatly scars the Panama market for US Citizens and businessmen.

To help you understand the level and kind of abuse currently being endured by US Citizens and American business interests in Panama, and related damage to Panamanian charities formed to meet the pressing needs of the children of Panama, I ask that you read a series of articles in US media outlets such as Time Magazine, The New York Times, LA Times, and others. The attempt to steal the large estate of Wilson Lucom, a former assistant to the US Secretary of State, has been well covered in various US media outlets. The first of these is in Time Magazine: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1680177,00.html The second of these is in the International Herald Tribune: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/24/america/panama.php The third can be found in the Los Angeles Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2008/06/millionaire-lea.html

To understand how a wealthy Panamanian family and their corrupt attorney have abused the legal system in Panama, including the bribery of various officials, you can see the detailed account entitled “Report to the Attorney General of Panama” which can be found at: http://www.lucom-ninospobresdepanama.com/LUCOM_english.html

It is important to note that in November 2008 the head of the Panama Governments National Council of Transparency for Corruption, Alma Montenegro de Fletcher, published a finding that found “extreme abuse of the Panamanian civil and penal system”, noting the false arrest of a US Citizen who was defending the interests of the children of Panama, Mr. Richard Lehman, a Florida attorney and long time friend and lawyer for Wilson Lucom. The details of Alma’s letter to the Panama Supreme Court can be found at the following (translated) website:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.setransparencia.gob.pa/noticias/noticia_nota_caso_wilson_lucom.htm&ei=kcWVSdqUIoHasAPA1ei4Bw&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522alma%2Bmontenegro%2522%2Blucom%26hl%3Den

In order to understand the critical and dangerous nature of the ongoing corruption, one needs to read how the organizer of a march on the Panama Supreme Court building organized by Mr. Lehman on behalf of the children of Panama was shot within days of the march. See: http://panamaexpatriates.blogspot.com/2008/06/interview-with-hector-avila-june-18.html

Fast forward to February 2009, Mr. Lucom’s Florida attorney, Richard Lehman, the US Citizen and trusted friend and attorney of Wilson Lucom, flies into Panama to meet with the Panamanian charities organized to accept the bequeath of Wilson Lucom on behalf of the poor and orphaned children. When he tries to depart Panama City to return to the US, Mr. Lehman is removed from the US plane, and placed under false arrest at the airport, waiting 16 hours for the “problem with immigration” to be clarified. Then it turns out that the head of Immigration finds there is no cause, yet a week later Mr. Lehman still cannot leave Panama because the airport authorities keep changing the basis for the detention and the Judge that can verify that there are no legal arrest warrants will either not meet with Mr. Lehman or provide him the necessary releases.

If you found yourself under arrest at a foreign airport, you would immediately call the US Embassy—right? So did Richard. Unfortunately, no one at the Embassy would answer the after-hours “Emergency” number (which is always answered at any Embassy, by the Marine guard if necessary) and when the phone is finally answered at 8am the next Monday, the operator indicates she does not have any idea how to help and will find the “Officer of the Day”. When the OD comes on line, they inform Mr. Lehman that they “don’t have any idea how to help him”. (The proper response is always, I do not know how to handle this but I will find out. How can I get right back to you)? The Embassy staff later claims that it is “judicial matter”, and they cannot help…even though Lehman’s Florida Congressman had sent the US Ambassador personal letter months ago fearing for the safety of Mr. Lehman. When others complain on Mr. Lehman’s behalf, they are told that Mr. Lehman is staying at a hotel as if that was good enough.

What were the US Government excuses for not acting immediately in defense of this US Citizen?

First, it is that the individual at the center of the Probate dispute, Wilson Lucom, “was not a US Citizen” as he had given up his US Citizenship when he move to Panama. So what!!! Richard Lehman is a US Citizen. Wilson Lucom’s only legally adopted child, Isabel Clark is the first in line to inherit her father’s estate under Panamanian law. She is a US Citizen living in California, and she can’t get the Courts to recognize her rights, nor can she get the State Department to act in defense of Mr. Lehman.

The US investors that purchased the largest asset in the Lucom estate, a 7,000+ acre waterfront ranch on the Pacific Coast of Panama, are US Citizens and the Panamanian courts are ignoring their legal claims and positioned their suit under a Judge who has at least twice before been censured for corruption. So much for the “equal access under the law” rights of US Citizens and US business interests in Panama. They are being abused by the corrupt legal system in Panama—confirmed by their own Transparency Commission—and the Embassy responds that they can’t get involved because “Wilson Lucom was not a US Citizen”. How ridiculous!

The next excuse is that “there are Probate disputes in the US as well”. My heavens, how does that apply to this? In the US, those Probate disputes have not been characterized by the US government itself as corrupt and an “extreme abuse” of the US civil and penal system!

The next excuse is that “the US cannot get involved in a civil proceeding” and that Panama has “an independent judiciary”. That’s strange, the outgoing US Ambassador was on the record numbers of time about the corruption of the Panama legal system. And you have the Panamanian Governments own Ms. Montengero confirming it!

What is going on? Perhaps it has to do with having a new American Ambassador in Panama who does not want to take a firm stand early on with the Panamanian Government.

Perhaps it has to do with the State Department not wanting to take any action that would endanger the US-Panama free trade pact that is currently before the Congress…which action this type of corruption and legal system abuse should call into question.

Perhaps it is just the terrible twins of ignorance and complete incompetence of behalf of the new Ambassador and her staff.

What is certain is that the “story line” being propagated by the US State Department Panama Desk and the US Embassy in Panama do not comport with the well documented history and clear facts in this heinous situation.

What is clear is that US Citizens and US business interests are being consistently abused by a corrupt Panamanian legal system and that US Citizen civil rights are being ignored by Panamanian authorities with impunity, while the US Embassy looks on washing its hands of any meaningful involvement (“Pilatos” in Spanish).

What is clear is that a well established Panamanian oligarchy can manipulate a corrupt legal system and culture and steal the lifelong estate of a former US Citizen, and from the orphans of Panama and other US interests, to keep their station in life – all as if the Noriega regime was still in power.

What naturally follows such blatant abuse is that every US Citizen and US businessman must worry about who will protect their investments and estates in Panama if the Panamanian legal system can be so completely corrupted and the US Government so clearly unwilling to act to protect US Citizens and businessmen.

What is clear is that every American citizens and businessmen who do not want this to happen to them, must take immediate action to get the US Government actively involved in protecting the rights of US Citizens and US business interests in Panama—and do it now!

I ask your support in contacting all Colorado Congressional and Senate staff to inform them of these recent dangerous events and prompt them to demand proper answers from the State Department and the US Embassy, Panama, of why they are not actively involved in protecting this US Citizen and others, along with other US business interests in Panama.

I also urge you, on behalf of the Chamber, to call/write the US Ambassador in Panama, Barbara Stephenson, 011-507-207-7000, general email: panamaweb@state.gov to find out why Mr. Lehman did not receive immediate and meaningful support and intervention in what is a very public corruption case documented as so by the head of the Panamanian Commission on Transparency and Corruption herself.

I also urge you to call the State Departments Panama Desk Officer, Marcia Singer, 202-647-3505, singerml@state.gov , and add your rejection of their simple minded excuses for inaction as well.

Gil, this is a serious matter that will damage Panama as well as those who have or will invest in Panama.

Regards—Bill

William A. Tolbert

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La Estrella de Panamá - The Panama Star
Florida Attorney detained 15 hours at Tocumen airport - [ Translate this page ]
Lehman 5 days prisoner - [ Translate this page ]
The Lucom legacy
Las Uvas: Fever in the coast

La Voz Nueva
Legal case clouding Panama/U.S. commerce

Youtube video
100 acres of beachfront are misappropiated

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2009 Panama City plate locations

This is the list of Panama City Municipal offices where 2009 car plates are available depending on the ending of their numbers.
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HSBC and CreditSuisse targeted for IRS probe

Business :: -->
IRS investigates Credit Suisse for tax fraud, says NY Times
Updated 18:07 New York, NY, USA (TSR, Fre) - First UBS and now Credit Suisse: the IRS, in inquiries which are increasingly far-reaching into fiscal evasion and fraud by US citizens and their overseas banks, has reportedly been investigating Credit Suisse and London-based HSBC since September, according to the New York Times. But Credit Suisse in Zurich says it has no knowledge of such investigations and HSBC saying the same.

The banks are suspected by the IRS of helping US taxpayers “hide assets of up to $30 million in offshore accounts,” reports the paper. To date no names of managers have surfaced and Credit Suisse refused to comment on the article, reports TSR, but it does insist it observes all laws and regulations.

Posted by :: Ellen Wallace on 2 December 2008 at 17:24 permalink

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HSBC, Credit Suisse added to federal probe, report says

Posted by Associated Press December 02, 2008 10:42AM
Categories: Banks
NEW YORK -- The Department of Justice has added Credit Suisse and HSBC to an investigation into foreign banks that sell offshore private banking services, according to a report Tuesday in The New York Times.
The Justice Department was already investigating whether Swiss banking giant UBS AG helped U.S. taxpayers hide assets overseas to avoid paying taxes.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the investigation.
Credit Suisse spokesman Jan Vonder Muehll in Zurich said the bank has no knowledge of any investigation against it by U.S. authorities.
HSBC spokesman Donal McCarthy in London said, "We are not aware of HSBC being investigated in connection with its offshore private banking services in the U.S. and HSBC has not received any contact from the U.S. authorities with regard to any such investigation."
McCarthy added that HSBC complies with all laws in countries where it does business and "cooperate with investigations when required to do so."
The Times, citing unnamed sources, said the investigation into Credit Suisse and HSBC began in September and is focusing on whether the two banks illegally helped wealthy American clients hide $30 billion overseas to avoid declaring the cash to the Internal Revenue Service. The investigation will determine if the clients themselves violated any laws as well.
Last week, UBS said it uncovered cases of tax fraud by some of its U.S. clients after it examined files as a result of the Justice Department investigation. The U.S. had initially asked for assistance in July.
UBS Chairman Peter Kurer said an investigation turned up a "limited number of cases of tax fraud under both U.S. and Swiss law."
Last month, a senior UBS executive was charged in the United States with conspiring to hide $20 billion in assets from the IRS.
The indictment claims that the chief of UBS' wealth management business, Raoul Weil, helped about 20,000 U.S. clients conceal assets in offshore accounts between 2002 and 2007. About 17,000 of the customers hid their identities and their Swiss bank accounts from the IRS and many of them filed false income tax returns, according to the indictment.

Tocumen airport parking

-------------------- FROM: western_canuck @yahoo.com DATE: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 00:16:17 -0800 (PST) SUBJECT: airport parking Does anyone know what the long term rate is for parking at the Tocumen airport? Leaving for a couple weeks and would just prefer to take my own vehicle to the airport and leave it in long term parking ....     The long term rate is of US$10 per day and is posted online at http://www.tocumenpanama.aero/index.php?cccpage=pub_general_estacionamiento&set_language=en   Installations » Parking Tocumen International Airport has a parking area of approximately 25,000 m2, located in front of the passenger terminal's main building. The cost of parking per hour or fraction of an hour is listed in the following table: Lengt of Time Rate Up to 1: 00 hour B/. 1.00 From 1:01 a 2:00 hours B/. 1.50 From 2:01 a 3:00 hours B/.2.00 From 3:01 a 4:00 hours B/.2.50 From 4:01 a 6:00 hours B/.3.00 From 6:01 a 12:00 hours B/.4.00 From 12:01 a 24:00 hours B/.6.00 1 Day or more B/.10.00 per Day In the event the parking ticket is lost, the user will have to pay 10 balboas (B/. 10.00).