Panama Real Estate Scams

It’s fall 2008 and I’m getting ready to attend the annual Manitoba Mining Show as I do every year as a mining supplies distributor. Born and raised in the mining industry, this is the dragons den for meeting and connecting with future customers, and meeting old friends. As an entrepreneur in the mining supplies industry, I met Keith at a local trade show, he had a booth setup like we did and was representing a pump manufacturing company. We had our booth showcasing some of the newest diamond blades, drill bits and steel.

I met Keith after the show during teardown, he was new in the industry and I wanted to introduce him some of my fellow peers in the industry to help him build some sales momentum for his company, we travelled for about 6-12 months the following year and built up a good friendship over that time.

November 2009, Keith had brought up an interesting real estate opportunity to purchase a vacant lot of land in Nueva Gorgona, Panama, about 1 hour drive from Panama City. Keith mentioned to me that he owned this property with his third wife Marina and with two previously failed marriages Keith had accumulated debt due to alimony payments and costs. Around this time, Keith had started presenting me with an opportunity to purchase half of the vacant property and would start a sailboat day touring business and build a house on the property. The business would be a retirement plan.

Initially, I wasn’t interested in buying property, let alone in Panama. Keith insisted I bring my wife Barb of 35 years down on a trip just to have a look at the country and try to convince me to change my mind. We had a blast, the trip was great, people were friendly and the weather can’t be beat from these cold Manitoba winters. Keith approached me again while we were down there and was trying to get an answer from me – but I simply wasn’t interested.

I really enjoyed the country, the people, the weather – it’s hard to say no to something that seems so good, however… I wasn’t building a house in Panama.

What about a Condo?

Keith was insisting this house deal become a reality, but it would be nice to own a condo and have a place to migrate to every winter as I get close to retiring from my family business.

What about a Condo?

Keith was intrigued that I would be interested in purchasing a condo in Panama because it was basically maintainence free and I could simply live there whenever I chose to and build up relationships in the mining industry down there as it was close proximity to the Panama Canal and ultimately would be a great place to serve countries in South America.

A small loan

Keith said he didn’t have the money to build on his property, I felt bad because of his situation and the opportunity he had right in his hands. I offered to help him out with his financial situation and loaned him $40,000 CAD to help clear up some of his debts so he can begin the process to build on his retirement property.

For collateral, they assigned 50% of their property which they stated was purchased for $60,000 USD, (later found out from my lawyer that he only paid $30k) and they would pay me back within 12 months of issuing the loan, or I had the option to allocate the $40k towards purchase half of the property. This loan would mature by March 2010.

6 months after my initial 40k loan in August 2009, Keith came back to me interested in co-purchasing a condo property at Gorgona Oceanfront Condominiums, unit 8D. Over the 6 month period I was warming up to the idea of becoming a Condo owner in Panama. I was interested in moving forward on this deal as I became more invested in the idea of retiring somewhere warm once in a while and could still do business if I wanted.

A short trip & offer.

Keith went down to check out the condo while I remained in Winnipeg busy with my business and i paid half the costs of the flight and accommodations, food etc. We made an offer to purchase the condo for $180,000 USD. As a result, I provided an initial payment of $11,184 USD for legal fees and down payment, Keith and his third wife Marina were to pay the second half of these fees.

September 2009

Our offer of 180,000 was accepted and the legal process to purchase the Condo property had commenced. In September 2009 i wired Marina Geronazzo $31,000 USD and an additional $50,000 USD to close the deal – I was now 50% owner of a condo property in beautiful Panama.

In October 2009, my wife, Keith and his wife Marina travelled down to sign the documents and take possession of our new property. We were thrilled. During this process Keith and Marina convinced me to settle on purchasing half of their retirement property and in the moment with the excitement of now owning a condo in Panama, I was inclined to own property down there as I would likely be visiting more often.

The story continues in the next post.

Here we are, it’s October 2009 and my wife and I now co-own a beautiful oceanfront condo in Central America – living the dream… or so we thought.

Keith was insistent on us purchasing half of their lot that they bought for $60,000 USD. In fact, we took care of the paperwork and legal process during the same visit of us closing on the condo property – it was a busy trip. We all signed a contract of agreement to purchase half of the property in 2009 and so during this visit we were to have me added as a 50% owner of the property during this visit.

Our Lawyer at the time was Gonzalo de la Guardia, partner at De la Guardia, Neuman, Faraudo and Bermudez (DENFAB) is a law firm that provides legal services to companies and individuals, of all sizes, in the Republic of Panama.

Gonzalo drafted up both the bill of sale for the condo and was supposed to assign me to half of the vacant property during this legal transaction. Gonzalo told me he would send me an english version of the agreement and we signed the Spanish version of the documents for the condo and for the assignment of me as 50% shareholder of the vacant lot.

After the paperwork we enjoyed the rest of our vacation before we would return home to Winnipeg and get back to life. I anticipated english versions of the documents, but never did receive them and slipped my mind.

I asked Keith for a the exact amount of money I invested with these properties for my accountant and he never did get back to me with all of the required documents highlighting the purchase and the agreement – something seemed fishy.

Over a period of three years the reality of owning property in a southern destination like Panama has really opened my life up to travelling and enjoying time with family in the tropics. We visited several times over the period between owning the condo in 2009 until we were mysteriously locked out in Christmas 2011.

In July 2011 Keith reached out to me asking me for another loan of $50,000 CAD to which he would use to invest in another company, after my initial experience and now owning two properties I wasn’t interested in continued investments with Keith at this point. I refused to provide this loan and that’s when our relationship began to take a turn for the worse.

In Christmas 2011, I went down to Panama with Barb to spend our three week holiday basking in the sun and that’s when I contacted my second lawyer to validate that I indeed owned both half of this vacant lot, and half of the oceanfront condo. I hired Leonel Amet Olmos Torres from Corporacion De Asesores Juridicos to review the paperwork I received, along with checking in with land registry to confirm my ownership details.

After reviewing all of the details of the purchase at this point, I was starting to become concerned with the documentation. I started to learn that I was not even properly documented as half of an owner of the condo or the vacant land property and that Keith was 100% owner and president of the corporation (Propiedades Panamericanas) and that I was S.O.L. I quickly learned that the lawyer Gonzalo who handled our transaction was previous president and director of the condo and holding company prior to Keith taking over… now I’m pissed.

After hiring Leonel to review my real estate paperwork and transaction that took place with Keith & Marina, I gradually started to become very concerned with the communication gaps and lack of progress with my situation. I had thought I hired a lawyer who I could trust best understands Panama’s real estate laws and would look out for my best interest. Over a period of four years, i exchanged countless emails, phone calls to ask about progress in my case. When I engaged Leonel he was certain it was an easy case and that we should be able to move through the process quickly, however with every communication, my legal bill with him would continue to grow. I’m a loyal guy to a fault, but after four years I couldn’t handle this relationship anymore.

Third Times the Charm

I hired a third real-estate lawyer Ronaldo Herrera Aragon in 2017, about four years after hiring Leonel because I simply couldn’t wait much longer for him to finish up on the case he claimed that would be easy and quick. Ronaldo was quick to discover that many of the filings that Leonel placed for my case were incorrectly, timelines and obligations to the court was not met. I was advised that this gentleman was grossly incompetent with my case and my problem only began to get worse.

At this point, it was time to fire Leonel. I sent him an email and told him his services were no longer needed. After I fired Leonel, he settled for $10,000 on my case with Keith & Marina out of court, a case that was valued to $119,000 USD and he kept the 10k and would not respond to Ronaldo, the third lawyer. I advised him that I did not want to settle, but he did anyway.

After countless attempts to contact Leonel, my second lawyer. Rolando was able to schedule a meetings with Leonel and his team, however they never showed. At this point Rolando told me to hire a litigation lawyer to get involved in pursuing the fraudulent moves that Leonel made with my case against Keith & Marina. Rolando was sadly only a real-estate lawyer, but honestly the best guy on my team to date.

The fourth, Litigation Lawyer

Renaldo Millwood was referred to me by a colleague I knew in Panama, what can I possibly lose now? I spoke with Renaldo on the phone and not long after, flying down to Panama to meet with him to get a case together against Leonel, Keith & Marina and their lawyer for the run-around and conflict of interest.

We discussed if he was able to solve all my legal disputes in Panama, we agreed he would receive a percentage of all the money I was suing Keith & Marina and Leonel for. He quickly obliged, and we shook hands and got to work.

It took about three weeks to get a hold of Leonel (2nd Lawyer) to ask for the $10 grand he claims to have settled for with Keith & Marina. I ran into Keith coincidently at the condo visiting a friend while I was down there, he told me he paid his lawyer $50,000 USD, when Leonel said it was only $10,000.

Not knowing who or what to trust, i’m getting to my wits end. I consult with Renaldo about this situation now, and i’m told that Renaldo did not want to pursue my legal case with Keith & Marina (where most of my money is), and instead settled on the case with Leonel where I was able to receive my supposed 10k back, and I was able to get my security funds back from the Government.

At this point, i’m ready to give up. Renaldo took the easy money, did not re-open my case against Keith & Marina and would not file a lawsuit against Keith & Marinas lawyer for conflict of interest in my condo transaction, and lastly wouldn’t get my documents from the court demonstrating my 50% ownership of the condo.

To date, I’ve yet to see any documents of what was sent to the court on this matter, I’ve heard rumours?

After parting ways with Renaldo in September 2019. I called a friend Pierre Miller to tell him about my fourth lawyer situation and how crooked and fishy these legal experiences I’ve had to endure. Pierre happened to be dating a real-estate and litigation lawyer, he was certain she would be a great person to help me tie up all these loose ends in Panama and get me the money and documentation I’ve been seeking for the past 5 years.

I flew down again in October 2019 to meet Miriam, my now current lawyer dealing with these cases. To date, we’ve been able to file complaints against the 3 other lawyers i’ve had shady dealings with, and I was able to finally get the court documents i’ve been waiting for all these years.

The documents revealed that they swore under oath that the funds I wired to Marina were for a loan I was providing, and not for ownership of the condo I supposedly was buying. The story just got interesting.

Still waiting for documents demonstrating this transaction was made and received.

I’ve shared a high level overview of one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve ever had to encounter in my life. I spent years working hard to raise a family and grow a business, I figured at my age and with a little extra money kicking around that I should try to enjoy my life with my wife and family.

I can tell you however, my life has been anything but fun and enjoyable with my current legal situation with supposed “friends” and legal professionals who I would hope would have their clients best interests.

A few words of wisdom.

If you’re looking to invest or purchase property in the country of Panama and you’re a fellow Canadian like me – I highly recommend that you get in touch with the Canadian Embassy to find legal counsel who can assist you with your real-estate transaction.

If you decide to source your own counsel, I highly recommend you hire secondary counsel to review the work of your transaction lawyer just to ensure you’re protected and your best interests are in mind.

If you’ve read this blog and want to learn more, please reach out by email to [email protected]

“The hardest thing I have learned after witnessing American greed, scams, scandals is to tell your story. Don’t want to sound like a whiner or a dummy. If my story helps one person then I think it’s worth it”

Cliff Allbutt