Order 1234: Court ordered embargo to enforce $44M debt

On August 2, 2022, the Fourth Civil Circuit Court of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama issued Auto No. 1234, ordering a comprehensive asset freeze on Villamorey, S.A. The court acted upon Lisa, S.A.’s motion to enforce a $100 daily contempt sanction imposed by Auto No. 463, and to recover $44,910,912 in unpaid dividends from 2009 to 2019. The total enforceable amount reached $44,913,412. Villamorey, S.A. had failed to comply with the April 2022 court order requiring it to render accounts and pay the resulting sanction.

To enforce the ruling, the court authorized the seizure of Villamorey's funds and assets located in Panama, Guatemala, the United States, Canada, El Salvador, Honduras, Curaçao, and the Netherlands. This includes bank accounts, securities, movable property, and shares in the Avícola Villalobos Group. The judge further ordered the immediate delivery of all frozen and to-be-frozen funds to Lisa, S.A. The ruling is based on Article 1383 of the Panamanian Judicial Code.