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Thursday 15 May 2003
OPEN
LETTER TO INSIDE COSTA RICA
LAZY
INVESTORS
by Jack Caine
We're all lazy, some
more than others. Few people want to take
the time to fully investigate their options when
making a decision. They are more comfortable
with "what other people" are saying or
doing rather than making their decision on their
own foot work.
That was the big
selling technique that go us to invest with LEV in
the first place....he had been operating for 20
years and everyone was doing it. He had a
legal business with a "Licensed by SUGEF"
sign hanging in front of his offices. What
else was required to invest?
We've made this
mistake once and many of these investors continue
to make the same mistake.
The majority of those
that invested with Villalobos have not spent the
time to read the case file or even get a copy of
it. It is a very difficult undertaking
to obtain a copy of the case file and almost
impossible if you don't speak Spanish.
So, the investors rely
on others to tell them what they should do.
I am especially amazed
by the people that make commentaries without
having done the necessary research.
For example, how can a
person state that LEV is guilty or innocent
without reading the case file. But many
people have stated that LEV is guilty or that he
is innocent without researching it.
They
have faith.
They have their beliefs.
But they don't have documentation and choose not
to look for it.
Others have said that
the judge made his decision on making the case
complex solely on the fact that 600 people have
filed actions with the court. I suppose that
someone did read the written decision by the judge
and came away with this idea, but if they had read
the written request by the prosecutor, they would
have seen that there were several other
considerations that probably influenced the
judge's decision.
These reasons include:
- Time needed to
coordinate with other governments to find the
hidden bank accounts in other countries
- The fact that
there are at least 6289 clients involved (not
just the 600 that filed actions with the court)
and that this is still a case of finding out
whether the money invested was from clean
sources or not
- The fact that
there are so many corporations in the Villalobos
group and that more investigation is needed
- The fact that the
prosecutor has requested tax information from
the Ministerio de Hacienda on these
corporations, owners and employees and has yet
to receive the requested information
These items together
will take 18 months to investigate and add to the
support of making the case complex.
After the 18 months
are up, Osvaldo (and LEV if he's found) will be
formally charged, a trial will be set, and the
case will drag on for many more years. In
the end, the court will find the Villalobos
brothers guilty of SOMETHING and say what they've
said since December 16, 2002:
- 3rd parties of
good faith (that's us the investors) do not have
ultimate rights in this case
- The frozen assets
are the product of illegal activities
- The frozen assets
will eventually be forfeited to the State
And since the bank
accounts have already been transferred into the
name of the court, the forfeiture has already
started.
This is the reason
that we are going to ICSID international
arbitration. Many of the bilateral
investment protection agreements require us to go
to arbitration within 3 years of knowing of the
loss of our investment or the breakage of the
agreement. That happened at the end of
August 2002 when LEV stopped paying.
The Costa Rican
Government is in breach of contract of these
bilateral investment protection agreements and
international law.
For example, in the
bilateral investment protection agreement between
Canada and Costa Rica, the Government of Costa
Rica is in violation of Article II, Section (2)
(a) & (b):
ARTICLE II - Promotion
and Protection of Investments
2)
Each Contracting Party shall accord investments of
the other Contracting Party:
(a)
fair and equitable treatment in accordance with
principles of international law; and
(
b)
full protection and security
Notice that the
agreement doesn't say "with principles of
Costa Rican law". It clearly states
that international law is required.
And there is no doubt
that the Costa Rican government has not provided
full protection and security. This has been
documented along with obstruction to justice.
This is the reason
that we are going after the Costa Rican Government
instead of LEV. And why we are not wasting
our time in trying to fight as a 3rd party in
Costa Rican courts.
If LEV is guilty or
innocent, it doesn't matter to us because it was
the Costa Rican Government's responsibility to
protect foreign investment in Costa Rica and they
failed to do their job, turned a blind eye for 23
years and didn't act or alert anyone when
there were formal reports years ago of suspicious
activities.
It is our hope that
the investors will open up their eyes and see what
is really happening instead of placing their hopes
in the Costa Rican court system or Costa Rican
attorneys.
Hope is great.
But its not
going to get you your money back. Only hard
work and changing the playing field to ICSID
International Arbitration is going to make an
impact.
We urge all non-Costa
Rican investors that invested with Villalobos to
join our arbitration case now!
Sincerely,
Jack Caine
Class Action Center
jc@classactioncenter.net
classactioncenter@hotmail.com
Tel. (506) 289 - 9917
Fax. (506) 228 - 8270
NO LEGAL OPINIONS ARE
PROVIDED IN THIS EMAIL
WRITTEN WITHOUT PREJUDICE
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