Villalobos Debacle Continues In Costa Rica

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

28 November 2002

Around 200 wealthy expat investors and high net worth Costa Ricans attending a rally on Tuesday were angered by their failure to unfreeze billions of dollars of their investment money held by Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho.

Controversy has been raging since Villalobos abruptly closed his operation on October 14, but according to the AM Costa Rica news service, his high yield 'investment firm' had been under investigation since July 4, and no interest payments were paid to investors in the month prior to his disappearance.

According to the Costa Rican media, the population is divided as to what has actually taken place, with the the majority of Villalobos' investors demanding the unfreezing of their funds and vehemently defending the reputation of the man who offered them up to 3% interest monthly on their investments, and many others questioning both the legality of his methods - Villalobos has variously been accused of money laundering and fraud - and the reasons behind his sudden departure.

According to AM Costa Rica, those attending Tuesday's rally cheered when organizer, Michael J. Nystrom-Schut read aloud a letter, supposedly from the man himself, reassuring them that: 'I have not failed the investors...and I do have people working on the issues. Have a little patience and everything will be all right.'

However, despite the rally, a continuation of the freeze of Villalobos' funds was ordered.

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