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Villalobos Brother Faces 52
Years in Prison
Yesterday afternoon the public
trial against Osvaldo Villalobos
Camacho, one half of the
"Brothers" high interest
operation, ended and is now in
the hands of the three judges.
A decision by judges is expected
by May 16.
During the three month trial
some 100 witnesses from both
sides of the argument gave
testimony, most of them victims
of the collapse of the high
interest investment group.
The prosecution, led by Fiscal
(prosecutor), Walter Espinoza,
presented its case against
Osvaldo Villalobos who is
charged with money laundering,
fraud and financial
intermediation (unauthorized
banking operation).
The defence, led by Federico
Campos, refuted all the charges
and in its summation told the
court that the prosecution
failed to make a case against
their client, whose business and
reputation was damaged by
actions of the Fiscalia and the
investigators.
Campos told the judges that the
"capture" business run by
Enrique Villalobos, Osvaldo's
brother, was not illegal and
that many such operations can be
found in all parts of the
country.
The whereabouts of Enrique
Villalobos Camacho and the
hundreds of millions of dollars
are still unknown.
The defence attorney, in his
summation, criticized judicial
investigators for jumping to
conclusions of a "ponzi" scheme
operation when they could not
find the source behind the
success of the "brothers", which
is a closely held trade secret.
The prosecution alleges that the
exchange business, known as
Ofinter, run by Osvaldo was only
a front for the financial
"capture" business.
The defence, however, told the
judges in its summation that the
prosecution has not proven that
Osvaldo was the author any
fraud, that Osvaldo never
participated in any "capturing"
of funds, only dealing with
currency exchange, and that
there was never any intent to
deceive his clients.
In its final statement, the
defence lawyer reminded the
court judges that it was up to
the prosecution to prove the
incapacity of the "brothers" to
pay, which was not done.
If found guilty, Osvaldo faces
up to 52 years in prison.
The prison time is broken down
for the different charges as:
ten years for money laundering,
thirty years for fraud, and two
counts of six years each
for a total of twelve years for
financial intermediation
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