Notifiers report Villamorey unknown at its own registered address
Jul 16 2024
Judicial Communications Office
This service report from the Judicial Communications Office documents the failed attempts to personally notify Villamorey, S.A. and Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez of the order admitting the damages claim in the ordinary damages proceeding brought by Lisa, S.A. before the First Circuit Civil Court of Panama (Case File 8853-24). Days earlier, the Court had issued an official notice to Villamorey's legal representative granting three days to appear for service, with a warning that failure to do so would result in service by edict. The notification forms reveal that the defendants could not be located at their own registered address.
First attempt (July 10, 2024, 9:23 a.m.). The judicial notifier appeared at the offices of Galindo, Arias & López, 11th Floor of the Scotia Plaza building on Avenida Federico Boyd, the registered address of Villamorey's resident agent. Secretary Maricel Oballes stated that the cited party was unknown at that address.
Second attempt (July 16, 2024, 9:46 a.m.). The notifier returned to the same address. Lcda. Maricel Oballes again stated that she did not know the cited party.
A second notification form records a service attempt for Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez at the same address (Avenida Federico Boyd, Scotia Plaza, Floor 11, Office 11), though the specific details of that attempt were not fully captured in the document.
The report incorporates a Panama Public Registry certification (pages 3 through 11) for Villamorey, S.A. (Mercantile Folio No. 9146), a corporation registered since July 6, 1971. This certification confirms that Galindo, Arias & López has served as Villamorey's resident agent since incorporation, and that Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez holds a general power of attorney granted by the company since February 23, 1984.
The corporate history reveals that Bosch has held executive positions at Villamorey continuously since 1984, including vice president (1984), treasurer (1987), and president (1990, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2016). The records also show that Villamorey has an authorized capital of $5,000,000.00 divided into 50,000 registered shares. That the staff of Villamorey's own resident agent firm disclaimed any knowledge of the company is inconsistent with a registry history spanning over fifty years in which the firm has acted uninterruptedly as its representative.
The inability to effect personal service triggered the procedure established in Article 1017 of Panama's Judicial Code. On September 16, 2024, the Court issued an order directing service by edict on Villamorey and Bosch, allowing the proceeding to advance despite the defendants' lack of cooperation.