Villalobos Investors Finally Hire Lawyer

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

11 March 2003

Hitting back at reports which suggested recently that investors defrauded by Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho were losing heart, John Manners, President of the United Concerned Citizens of Costa Rica announced at the weekend that the group has now hired a lawyer to put pressure on the Costa Rican government.

The lawyer in question, former Justice Minister, Jose Miguel Villalobos (no relation to the fugitive financier) has come under fire for demanding a $300,000 fee for representing the investors. He had previously indicated that he would not begin work on the case against the government until he had received the first third of this amount, but has now reconsidered this decision, Mr Manners revealed.

According to the AM Costa Rica news service: 'Manners said that by signing the contract now, the lawyer can begin the legal battle while the balance of the funds are collected.'

The report continued:

'Villalobos, the lawyer, has said that he has been unable to find any evidence that Enrique Villalobos had done anything wrong. His plan is to file criminal charges to get the attention of the officials who are working on the Villalobos case. He said he does not expect to actually go to court on the charges.'

Luis Enrique Villalobos is currently being sought out by the Costa Rican government on charges of money laundering and fraud.

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