Monday 04 August
2008, San José, Costa Rica
Drug Addiction
Affects "All Social Classes"
Oscar Arias' Image
Tarnishing, Latest Poll
Reveals
Supreme Court Upholds
Villalobos Conviction
Geothermal Energy
Leatherbacks
Mother's Day Sales Not
Heating Up
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Supreme Court Upholds
Villalobos Conviction
The United Concerned
Citizens & Residents (UCCR),
the Borthers
(Villalobos) investors
group, has sent what may
be one of the last
emails to its membership
as the Supreme Court
completed its final
opinion on the case
against Osvaldo
Villalobos, not
presenting any changes
from the court opinion
released on June 3.
The UCCR says the
document is full of
detail, lengthy and
contains no surprises
and defense attorney
plan to submit a request
to the trial court
asking for a
clarification on how the
accusation of fraud was
interpreted in arriving
at a conviction.
Osvaldo Villalobos was
tried and sentenced to
19 years in prison, a
sentence that was
ratified on June 3 by
Sala Tercera de la Corte
. His brother, Enrique
Villalobos is at large
and his whereabouts
unknown, same as the
alleged hundreds of
millions of dollars of
investor money.
With final opinion of
the court, the case of
Osvaldo Villalobos ia
officially closed.
All the legal arguments
have been made. There
are no remaining legal
options are available to
Osvaldo and the case
could only be re-opened
if compelling evidence
were to be produced,
which is unlikely at
this point.
In the email, the UCCR
says that, in
anticipation of the
court decision, it has
been exploring several
other options, one being
to file an appeal with
the Inter-American
Commission of Human
Rights claiming
violation by the Costa
Rican government of
investors' human rights.
After exploring the
possibility with lawyers
specializing int he
field, the option was
abandoned mainly that
the Commission would not
even loot at the case
until it could be
demonstrated that all
legal remedies available
to investors within the
Costa Rican judicial
system had been
exhausted.
There is no convincing
evidence to prove that
investors' rights were
violated. At present,
only those investors who
filed claims of fraud
have taken the first
step in a process that
could take years to
complete. Osvaldo, on
the other hand, might
have a strong case
because he has gone the
distance with the
system.
A second possibility
that the UCCR has been
exploring is a
negotiated settlement,
similar to the
settlement made by Luis
Milanes last month that
saw him post a us$12
million in properties to
secure his freedom while
the prosecutor's office
builds a case.
Milanes had gone missing
for almost six years
following the demise of
the Brothers operation
and the closure of his
own high interest yield
operation. The
whereabouts of Milanes,
like Enrique where
unknown and subject of
speculation, until he
surfaced in El Salvador
with a face passport and
nabbed by the
International Police
organization, INTERPOL.
Milanes said that he was
on his way to Costa Rica
when he was arrested and
using a fake passport
for fear of his life. In
Costa Rica, Milanes was
given conditional
release and quickly
posted the properties
within the time
requested by the court.
The UCCR feels that this
approach may have merit
for the Brothers as well
and that it could be a
strategy that could be
used by Enrique to
return to Costa Rica,
face the judicial system
and keep his promise to
thousands of his
investors, to pay them
back.
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