Thread: Never get in a lawsuit in Panama

If you think the court system in the USA is bad wait till you get into the court system in Panama. There are many attorneys that are corrupt here. I can speak for one attorney in Particular. Gonzalo de la Guardia, son of Gonzalo de la Guardia Sr. Both these men are corrupt and criminal. De la Guardia Sr. stole 200K from me on a simple real estate transaction while the principal of Templar Panama. After he used his son to scam me as an attorney he either paid off the court not to prosecute him. I could go on and on but the point is you are a fool to do business in Panama under any circumstances.

I wish someone had told me before I lost 200k and seems like the court will not even depose this panamanian criminal.
Here is the letter I got from the US Ambassador to Panama.

Dear Mr. Ramey,

Ambassador Powers asked me to reply on her behalf to your email of December 30, 2010, in which you described your difficulties with Templar Panama.

I am sorry to hear that you lost your retirement savings in your dealings with Templar Panama, and that you are having difficulty resolving this case through the court system here. If you would like to file a complaint regarding how your case was handled by the Fiscalia, you can contact the Sub-Secretaría of the Prosecutor's Office, located in the Edificio Saloon, across from the Iglesia Don Bosco, 4to. Piso, Calidonia, Panama City, telephone 507-3000.

As to warning other Americans about the pitfalls of investing in Panama, the Embassy webpage on purchasing property in Panama states:
The judicial system's capacity to resolve contractual and property disputes is weak and open to corruption. The World Economic Forum ranks Panama's level of judicial independence to be 103 out of 133 countries ranked in the world.

Please understand that Panamanian laws and the Panamanian court system are outside of the jurisdiction of the United States Government.

We are receiving a growing number of complaints concerning real estate transactions in Panama. Many Americans who decide to settle or invest in Panama are relatively satisfied with their decision; others encounter great difficulty due to Panama's weak judicial system. Only individual Americans can decide if the conditions they find here are satisfactory.
I hope you find the foregoing information of some use.

Good Luck,

Charles J. Perego
Vice Consul


This email is UNCLASSIFIED

Do not do business in Panama if you value your life savings, You have been warned.

usndvr79

Thats horrible what happened to you. Have you e-mailed your situation to panama-guide, primapanama.blogs and the yahoo american group. I hope you have because people need to know about this and the information the embassy provided. Panama is looking less desireable everyday with the increase in vilonent crime, lack of infrasturture, real estate crooks, and extremely poor judicial system.

dcole056

americans_in_panama : Americans Living in Panama

Why don't you provide some documentation on as to how they stole your money?

How was the son able to scam you after the father had already scammed you?

After about a month, I asked the De La Guardia where the title was. He said that the money accidentally got sent to england. So he needed more time because the US was blocking the return of the funds. They had already given me the keys to the condo and I bought 20k worth of furnishings and was living in the unit.

He produced a document and wanted me to sign a paper he had prepared in spanish. I said no way without running it by an attorney. He recommended an attorney at PRA so I went to the attorneys office and asked the attorney to read and advise me on the document. He said and I quote "It's not the best written document but I would sign it because it would be the fastest way to obtain the title". So with the attorneys blessing I signed the document which said that the contract had expired and that Templar would pay the fine for the expired contract with the seller. 15K was the penalty. De La Guardia said until the monies were brought back to Panama they would pay rent to the seller at 1500 per month.
Oh did I mention that the attorney that advised me to sign the document was non other than Gonzalo De La Guardia Jr.? The son of Gonzalo De La Guardia. He never gave me his name at the meeting and I found out later that it was his son.
Does that explain how the son scammed me enough?

One more item of interest. Gonzalo De La Guardia's brother is married to Ricardo Martinelli's sister. Yes the President of Panama.
So tell me the court is not corrupt.

Is this not a website run by Don Winner? He is also a shady character. Go to Banamarepublic.com and read about this scumbag.

I am not sure why you paid before you had the title. Normally you would do this by a promesa de pago.

Never use the seller's attorney in a real estate transaction.

If you have paid, you have paid. It doesn't matter if the recipient sends money to another country later on. It sounds like you sent them to England?

Overall it looks like you have done one big NO-NO after another.

Do you have any documentation you can upload?

Originally Posted by usndvr79

After about a month, I asked the De La Guardia where the title was. He said that the money accidentally got sent to england. So he needed more time because the US was blocking the return of the funds. They had already given me the keys to the condo and I bought 20k worth of furnishings and was living in the unit.

He produced a document and wanted me to sign a paper he had prepared in spanish. I said no way without running it by an attorney. He recommended an attorney at PRA so I went to the attorneys office and asked the attorney to read and advise me on the document. He said and I quote "It's not the best written document but I would sign it because it would be the fastest way to obtain the title". So with the attorneys blessing I signed the document which said that the contract had expired and that Templar would pay the fine for the expired contract with the seller. 15K was the penalty. De La Guardia said until the monies were brought back to Panama they would pay rent to the seller at 1500 per month.
Oh did I mention that the attorney that advised me to sign the document was non other than Gonzalo De La Guardia Jr.? The son of Gonzalo De La Guardia. He never gave me his name at the meeting and I found out later that it was his son.
Does that explain how the son scammed me enough?

Well Ed that is my first big problem, not using a title company. I have bought many properties in the US with no problems but Panama I did not have the help I would normally have in the US.
Problem number 2 never use a lawyer recommended by the real estate company. I was set up big time and I fell for it.
Yes I paid. the story about sending the funds to england was a stall tactic nothing more. Of course it does not matter where the money went, except in the proper place.
No I sent the money to Panama in a bank wire. With the directions I got from Templar.
I have to ask are you in Panama? I mean do you live here? You keep asking me to upload documents. I have a stack of documents 1.5 inches thick and counting. Maybe we could meet. I do not feel comfortable just posting random docs on websites. Not sure if you have a PM or not, if so send me a PM and we can talk.

I don't get a hit on that address...could you have mistyped it?

I have asked the poster, usndvr79, to send me the complaint he has filed, but the poster does not seem to be willing to provide any public documents.

I have told Ed that I would be more than happy to meet with him and sow the documents. He refuses to even tell me what country he lives in. Ed has also said it is public information the case I have against the defendant. He is wrong about that. This statement is strait from the US department of state website. Note at the end of the first paragraph that states
"pleadings are not always a matter of public record, nor are the processes always transparent."






US Department of State website:

Dispute Settlement

Panama has a court and judicial system built around a civil code, rather than the Anglo-American system of reliance upon case law and judicial precedent. Fundamental procedural rights in civil cases are broadly similar to those available in U.S. civil courts, although some notice and discovery rights, particularly in administrative matters, may be less extensive than in the U.S. Judicial pleadings are not always a matter of public record, nor are the processes always transparent.

The business community lacks confidence in the Panamanian judicial system as an objective, independent arbiter in legal or commercial disputes, especially when the case involves powerful local figures with political influence. Over the last few years, the majority of investment disputes involving U.S. investors has been related to land purchasing and/or titling issues. Such disputes have been difficult to resolve due to the lack of adequate titling, inconsistent regulations, lack of trained officials outside of Panama City, and a slow and cumbersome judiciary. Some of these disputes have resulted from U.S. investors being unfamiliar with the Panamanian titling system. The court system is slow and prone to massive case backlogs and corruption. The GOP and the newly installed President of Panama’s Supreme Court have signaled their intentions of strengthening their institutions to address these issues by, for example, digitizing court records and providing access to them on-line.

Panama’s commercial law is comprehensive and well-established. Its bankruptcy law is antiquated and remains under review to be adapted to modern business practices.

The GOP accepts binding international arbitration of disputes with foreign investors. Panama became a member of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in 1996. The United States and Panama signed an amendment to the Bilateral Investment Treaty to incorporate Panama's membership into ICSID on June 1, 2000. This amendment took effect in May 2001. Panama also became a member of the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) in 1997.

Once ratified and implemented, the TPA will solidify the legal framework for U.S. investors operating in Panama. All forms of investment will be protected under the agreement, including enterprises, debt, concessions and similar contracts, and intellectual property. With very few exceptions, U.S. investors will be treated as well as Panamanian investors (or investors of any other country) in the establishment, acquisition, and operation of investments in Panama. The TPA draws from U.S. legal principles and practices to provide U.S. investors in Panama substantive and procedural protections that foreign investors currently enjoy under the U.S. legal system. The TPA’s investor protections are backed by a transparent, binding international arbitration mechanism, under which investors may, at their own initiative, bring claims against a government for an alleged breach of the TPA’s investment chapter. Submissions to investor-state arbitral tribunals would be made public, and hearings would generally be open to the public. Tribunals would also be authorized to accept amicus submissions from non-disputing parties.

Check with your attorney if the complaint is a public record or not if in doubt.

I have no idea about your case or situation. HOwever I do know A LOT of people got burned with Templar -- I know this for a FACT.

Here is what it says in the public registry:

PRESIDENTE RENUNCIA
TESORERO RENUNCIA

for:
TEMPLAR PANAMA, S.A.
and:
TEMPLAR INVESTMENT PANAMA, S.A. (TIPSA)

They have the same resident agent. Nice!

The one who used to be the TESORERO/PRESIDENTE was:

GONZALO DE LA GUARDIA ARIAS

Until Sept 25th, 2009.

LOURDES AYALA renounced in June of 2009.

We received a "request" to remove this thread.

What's the latest on this?

This thread has been getting quite some attention over the past few days.

On 01/31/2012 11:56 AM the website Bananamarepublic.com linked here: Scam pimp in grand theft GPS maps | Bananama Republic

Excerpt:

Promotes “Templar Panama“, a real esate firm of Gonzalo de la Guardia which took (Never get in a lawsuit in Panama) (this is the link to PanamaForum) investments for a condo tower they never built and which sold land next to resorts and marinas of Carlos Slim and Mel Gibson that didn’t exist. Templar employs one Martin Roy Lamb as its sales director, a convicted high yield investment swindler from Canada, and Winner tries to suppress exposure of Lamb on behalf of the Templar hustlers. Lamb, de la Guardia et al eventually resort to hacking this website to stop them from being exposed as a bunch of crooks;

On 02/02/2012 10:20 AM we received a "request" to delete this thread.

On 02/03/2012 around 6 PM, PanamaForum.com was hacked and reported to Google as a "malware spreading website". Fortunately we quickly resolved the problem. The article at Bananamarepublic.com mentions in the same paragraph where they link to us that they too were hacked. This is (for now) a very interesting coincidence.

Is it this guy?

http://www.facebook.com/gdelaguardia

http://ohuiginn.net/panama/

has also been taken down :-). Someone is not happy about being exposed.....

500 Internal Server Error

Originally Posted by PanamaForum.com

We received a "request" to remove this thread.

What's the latest on this?

never remove!

Shine the light on these crooks hiding like rats in the alley.

Gonzo has now appeared here: Disount health insurance plan unveiled in Panama | BUPA

Still focusing on selling AIR to foreigners.

The list of "Templar" victims would shock people. I know several people that used to work there and I know all the ins-and-outs. This thread should be active and archived until all the clowns that ran that show are 6 feet underground. These guys make the TOC crew look like saints.

We are all ears! Still your guts!

Originally Posted by No-Non-Sense-Matt

I know several people that used to work there and I know all the ins-and-outs. This thread should be active and archived until all the clowns that ran that show are 6 feet underground. These guys make the TOC crew look like saints.

The same tactics that Julieats Pussy PanaManagement uses.

A staged interview does not get worse than this: Templar Panama Interview - YouTube

Conclusions:

1. Gonzo if he really studied in the UK and US speaks the worst English of all Panamanians.
2. He lies and has a completely distorted idea about this shithole they call a country.
3. He thinks that his family history gives him the right to steal.
4. He looks and behaves like a child in front of the camera.

Originally Posted by pingun

We are all ears! Still your guts!

It would take me hours to write half the story. I don't have time.

Let me give the gist:

- A group of con-artists infiltrated one of the most trusted groups in Panama and used the "built-in" trust factor to instantly gain respect and hire a group of VERY solid Panamanians and Americans to come work for them.

- They sold projects that never materialized (The Gorgona Beach project) and used the money to pay expenses and finance their scam.

- Advertised heavily using victim's money to attract next batch of victims.

- They betrayed their employees, left them high and dry and crawled out of Panama "in the night" and took the rest of the money that was left.

That's the essence of what happened.

Ok, so Gonzo and Kevin Bradley are as innocent as they come?

Originally Posted by No-Non-Sense-Matt

It would take me hours to write half the story. I don't have time.

Let me give the gist:

- A group of con-artists infiltrated one of the most trusted groups in Panama and used the "built-in" trust factor to instantly gain respect and hire a group of VERY solid Panamanians and Americans to come work for them.

- They sold projects that never materialized (The Gorgona Beach project) and used the money to pay expenses and finance their scam.

- Advertised heavily using victim's money to attract next batch of victims.

- They betrayed their employees, left them high and dry and crawled out of Panama "in the night" and took the rest of the money that was left.

That's the essence of what happened.

Originally Posted by pingun

ok, so gonzo and kevin bradley are as innocent as they come?

ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!