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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
| COSTA RICA
NEWS |
Thursday 12 May 2011 |
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Costa
Rica
Companies
Connected
To Money
Laundering
Scandal
From
Montreal
Gazette
How does
the
extended
family
behind
the
Voyageur
Foundation
- a
Costa
Rica-based
organization
that is
unable
to
return
us$65
million
worth of
investments
to its
Canadian
members
- find
the time
to run
69
corporations
in two
Central
American
countries?
And why
are so
many of
these
companies
connected
to a
Panamanian
money
laundering
scandal
involving
former
Nicaraguan
president
Arnoldo
Alemán?
While
many of
the
close to
1,000
Canadian
Voyageur
members
are
teetering
on the
brink of
financial
ruin,
the
people
behind
the
"investment
club"
have
been
busy
pursuing
other
business
interests.
A
Montreal
Gazette
investigation
has
discovered
that the
Jarman
clan -
the
family
from
Port
Alberni,
B.C.,
that
controls
Voyageur
- and
their
Costa
Rican
in-laws,
the
White
Hernández
family -
have
some
strange
bedfellows.
Attempts
to have
the
Jarman
family
explain
their
backgrounds
have
been met
with
resistance,
but
biographical
information
online
does not
explain
how
these
individuals
- there
are 10
in total
-
developed
the
management
expertise
and
formidable
logistical
skills
required
to
manage
69
corporations
and a
$65-million
"investment
foundation."
Voyageur
founder
Philip
Jarman
is a
retired
helicopter
pilot;
his
daughter,
Angela
Jarman,
is a
former
journalist
with an
undergraduate
education
degree
and a
certificate
from a
Baptist
college,
while
Philip's
Toronto-based
son,
Jeff
Jarman,
worked
as a
helicopter
mechanic.
Although
Jeff
Jarman
calls
himself
a
capital
markets
professional,
he is
not
registered
with
provincial
securities
authorities.
Philip's
wife,
Voyageur
comptroller
Mary
Belle
Jarman,
does not
appear
to be a
certified
accountant.
Although
another
son,
Peter
Jarman,
is
president
of a
Calgary-based
investment
firm, he
is not
registered
with
Alberta
securities
regulators.
Angela's
husband,
Christian
White
Hernández,
is a
former
tour
guide
with an
MBA; his
mother,
Priscilla
White
Hernández,
works at
a local
university;
his
father
Charles
White
Solano
worked
as a
senior
manager
at a
national
co-operative
organization
in Costa
Rica,
where he
and
several
co-workers
were
once
accused
by the
government
of
stealing
housing
bond
money
from
poor
people.
(The
charges
were
forgiven
after
his
former
boss,
powerful
politician
Rodolfo
Navas
Alvarado,
reached
a
settlement
agreement
with the
government.)
During a
phone
interview
from
Costa
Rica,
when a
reporter
asked
Christian
White
Hernández
how he
managed
to run
so many
firms
and
whether
he had
any
specialized
training,
he
answered:
"That's
none of
your
business."
A
reporter
was
unable
to track
down
background
information
about
the two
remaining
members
of the
clan
involved
in
running
some of
the
families'
firms,
Christian's
sister,
Carmen
Hernández
Varela,
or his
brother,
Brian
White
Hernández.
Yet a
search
of
corporate
registry
records
reveal
that
these 10
individuals
registered
36 firms
in Costa
Rica and
33
companies
- and
one
foundation
- in
Panama
between
2000 and
2010.
In
another
phone
interview,
White
Hernández
said
there
were
"many
reasons"
why his
family
would
need so
many
corporations,
but
declined
to
provide
further
details.
One
reason
could be
that for
company
owners
seeking
privacy,
Panamanian
and
Costa
Rican
laws
guarantee
secrecy
and
anonymity.
Corporations
are not
required
to
disclose
the
identities
of their
true
owners,
file
financial
statements
or hold
annual
meetings.
Corporations
are also
fully
exempt
from
taxation
on any
business
activity
or
transaction
carried
on
outside
of the
country
of
incorporation.
A
detailed
examination
of the
registry
documents
shows
that 29
of the
families'
33
offshore
Panamanian
corporations
are
linked
to three
people
behind
Nicstate
Development
- one of
several
Panamanian
firms
used by
Alemán
to
launder
some of
the
approximately
us$100
million
he was
convicted
of
embezzling
during
his term
as
Nicaraguan
president
from
1997 to
2002.
Corporate
records
show
that
three
Panama-based
individuals
-
Francis
Perez,
Leticia
Montoya
and
Katia
Solano -
are part
of the
clandestine
team
behind
Nicstate.
The same
trio
have
been
assigned
essential
duties
at 29 of
the
Jarman
and
White
Hernández
families'
Panamanian
companies.
To form
a
corporation,
Panamanian
law
requires
that two
people -
known as
"subscribers"
in that
country
- must
appear
before a
notary
in
Panama
to
officially
incorporate
the
company.
Two
Panamanian
"subscriber"
companies
that
list
Perez,
Montoya,
Solano
as
officers
and
directors
- Dulcan
Inc. and
Winsley
Inc. -
processed
the
incorporation
paperwork
for all
29
firms.
That
means
three
people
that
played
an
important
role at
Nicstate,
an
offshore
firm
used by
Alemán
to
launder
money,
have
also
worked
for the
Jarman
and
White
Hernandez
families.
In
January
2009,
Nicaraguan
President
Daniel
Ortega -
a former
political
rival -
pardoned
Alemán
as part
of what
local
and
regional
newspapers
allege
was a
powersharing
pact.
Back in
Quebec,
despite
Voyageur's
alleged
effort
to
recover
the
missing
$65
million
in
investors'
funds,
members
have not
been
able to
recover
any of
their
money
since
the
foundation
froze
their
funds in
January
2010.
LIST
OF
COMPANIES
Ten
members
of the
Jarman
and
White
Hernández
families
are
listed
as the
presidents,
treasurers
and
secretaries
of 69
corporations
-and one
foundation
-in
Panama
and
Costa
Rica.
Reporters
from
Costa
Rica's
La
Republica
newspaper
visited
the
official
address
of
Voyageur
Foundation
in San
Jose
last
week but
were
unable
to find
any
evidence
of
business
activity.
"I have
worked
here for
five
years
and I
have
never
seen
this
company,"
a
security
worker
said.
Reporters
were
also
unable
to find
physical
evidence
of an
office
for
Philip
Jarman's
helicopter
firm
Corporacion
Mosquito
MBP S.A.
COSTA
RICA (36
CORPORATIONS,
23 OF
WHICH
WERE
INCORPORATED
ON OCT.
27,
2003)
Pure
Flower
Valley
Hidden
Plant
Desert
Corp.
Crescent
Moon
Wind
Corp.
Nube
Callada
del
Atlántico
Inversiones
Ola
Cristalina
del Mar
Maderas
Exóticas
del
Bosque
Inversiones
Senda
Brillante
Desarrollos
Playa
Larga
del
Pacífico
Inversiones
Atardeceres
Cálidos
del
Verano
Corporación
El Gran
Manatí
Sagrado
Developp
Logna
Invesh
Riqueza
Developp
Silve
Sociedad
Anónima
Developp
Epeso
Desarrollos
Brisa
Suave
del
Desierto
Extra
Ferrera
El Mono
Aullador
del
Amanecer
Corporación
El Dulce
Susurro
del
Maizal
Corporación
El
Manigordo
de Oro
Bright
Sun
Breeze
Corporation
Desarrollos
Jungla
Sacrada
delParaíso
Corporación
El
Caligo
del
Bosque
Húmedo
Corporacion
Mosquito
MBP S.A.
East
Forth
Street
S.A.
Nich
Travel
AJC S.A.
Tres
ciento
uno
cuatrocientos
sesenta
y nueve
mil
ciento
diez
sociedad
Precisión
Dinámica
CMBP
S.A.
Soluciones
Sebigna
S.A.
Big
Brown
Brindle
S.A.,
Asociación
de
Vecinos
de
Avalón
Snoopy
and
Friends
of Costa
Rica
S.A.
Toby Boy
Inc.
S.A.
RV Four
of Costa
Rica
S.A.
Green
Gold
Resources
of
Central
América
S.A
Our V C
R of
Costa
Rica
S.A.
Anne
Marie
and
Friends
of Costa
Rica
S.A.
Balmain
Trading
Corp.
PANAMA
(33
CORPORATIONS
AND 1
FOUNDATION)
Omega 3
Corp.
Voyageur
Foundation
Montagnard
Corporation
Inc.
Napoli
Corporation
Inc.
Leber
Action
Corporation
Inc.
Dralas
Development
Corp.
Iron
Hills
Inc.
Mirkwood
International
Inc.
Shining
Stone
Corp.
Alpha
Beta
Gamma
Corp.
Bilbo
Intl.
Consultants
S.A.
Blue
Gate
Corp.
Eriador
Corp.
Great
Polar
Development
S.A.
The
Northern
Light
Intl.
Corp.
Valkiria
Intl.
Incorporate
Big
Apple
Inc.
Billy
Hope
Corp.
Great
Laurentian
Inc.
Green
Gold
International
Corp.
The
Southern
Frontier
Corp.
Eastern
Eagle
Intl.
Corp.
Golden
Structures
Corp.
Red Rain
Developments
Inc.
Midnight
Train
Corp.
Red
House
Developments
Inc.
Del Sol
Consultants
Corp.
Life
Resources
Inc.
Luna
Consultants
Corp.
Heart
and Soul
Corp.
Alfa
Trade
Group
Inc.
Vinculum
S.A.
Voyager
Learning
Group
Inc.
Balmain
Trading
Corp.
***Voyageur's
website
alleged
that
Balmain
Trading
Corp.
was
incorporated
in
Panama
but this
could
not be
confirmed
in a
search
of the
country's
corporate
registry
records.***
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Source
Apdo. 2133-1000, San José, Costa
Rica
Tel: (506) 2231 3205 / (506) 8399
9642
Fax: (506) 2232 6337
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