BDT files criminal complaint charging Bosch with embezzlement of $120 million in retained dividends
Oct 8 2024
BDT Investments Inc.
BDT Investments, Inc., incorporated under the laws of Barbados, files a criminal complaint before Panama's Anti-Corruption Prosecutor against Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez for crimes against public administration in extended modality, claiming a minimum of $120,000,000.00 in damages. The complaint expands the criminal investigation initiated by Lisa, S.A. in May 2023, bringing BDT into the proceedings as a direct victim after it acquired Lisa's rights over Villamorey, S.A. shares by judicial mandate.
The complaint identifies Bosch Gutiérrez as the judicial depositary appointed before the Eleventh Circuit Civil Court of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama in Case No. 7081-08. The starting point is the letter addressed to the Eleventh Court on November 25, 2008, in which Bosch Gutiérrez informed the court that Villamorey, S.A. had taken the necessary measures to comply with the sequestration order and that the dividend retentions corresponding to Lisa, S.A. were at the court's disposal. The complaint maintains that from that moment Bosch became constituted as depositary of those funds under Article 535(4) of the Judicial Code.
Noncompliance with Auto No. 2277-2018. Auto No. 2277-2018, issued on December 5, 2018 by the Eleventh Circuit Civil Court and now final and enforceable, recognized that the dividends retained from Lisa, S.A. far exceeded the judgment amount in favor of Villamorey, S.A. and ordered set-off. Bosch Gutiérrez, as judicial depositary, was obligated to return the excess amounts. As of the date of the complaint, that judicial instruction remains unfulfilled.
Failure to file reports. The complaint emphasizes that Bosch Gutiérrez never filed any report on his management as depositary before the court where he assumed that role, and that the use, destination, or whereabouts of the retained funds remains unknown.
The complaint invokes Articles 338 and 341 of Panama's Criminal Code (embezzlement and misuse of public funds), applicable to Bosch Gutiérrez by virtue of Article 343(3), which extends crimes against public administration to depositaries of assets attached, sequestered, or deposited by public authority. The complaint asserts that the conduct meets the elements of tipicidad, unlawfulness, and culpability, as Bosch appropriated funds entrusted to him by reason of his office as judicial depositary.
BDT further invokes the reversal of the burden of proof under Article 257 of the Criminal Procedure Code for embezzlement and money laundering offenses, arguing that given the concealment of accounting books and financial statements, the burden falls on the accused to demonstrate the lawful origin of the assets.
The complaint grounds BDT's victim status in Article 79 of the Criminal Procedure Code, specifically subsection 3 (partners affected by crimes committed by those who direct or manage a company) and subsection 6 (any person who has suffered financial loss as a consequence of conduct violating criminal law). BDT requests admission as co-complainant under Article 90 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which governs concurrent complainants where more than one victim exists.
The complaint incorporates as documentary evidence all materials previously submitted and admitted by Lisa, S.A. in the criminal file, as well as an authenticated copy of Auto No. 898 of April 12, 2022 issued by the Twelfth Civil Court, which certifies BDT's acquired rights. As expert evidence, it requests a judicial inspection of the accounting books and financial statements of Villamorey, S.A. and its registered agent, the firm Galindo, Arias y Lopez (GALA), to determine whether accounting records exist and, if found, to conduct a forensic audit.