Filed 2022Last activity Apr 27 2023
Criminal Complaint
Villamorey, S.A.'s criminal complaint for false reporting of offences and extortion over the complaints filed by Lisa, S.A.
- Villamorey, S.A.
- Lisa, S.A.
Villamorey, S.A. filed a criminal complaint before the Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office in Panama, alleging false criminal accusations and extortion. Villamorey argued that Lisa's prior criminal filings were a mechanism of intimidation designed to force a commercial settlement. The Prosecutor investigated both charges and concluded that none of Lisa's complaints had been declared false or frivolous, an indispensable prerequisite for the alleged crime, and that Lisa's claim for dividends as a shareholder of Villamorey did not constitute undue profit. Under , the Public Prosecutor ordered the provisional archive of the case, finding that the facts did not fit the offences invoked.
Outlook
In April 2023 the Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office archived the matter, finding that the facts alleged did not fit the offences of false reporting of an offence (simulación de hecho punible) and extortion. The decision is not final: a Judge of Guarantees may be asked to review it (Article 275 of the Criminal Procedure Code); the published record shows no such request.
Analysis
I. The Criminal Complaint and Provisional Archive
On September 15, 2022, Villamorey, S.A., through attorney Moisés Barlett Quiel, filed a criminal complaint against Harald Johannessen Hals, associated with Lisa, S.A., alleging simulation of punishable acts and extortion. The complaint was based on Lisa's two prior criminal filings against Villamorey: the first for fraud and misappropriation (case file 201700045406), provisionally archived on April 8, 2019 and upheld by a Judge of Guarantees; the second for money laundering (criminal notice 201800028103), provisionally archived on June 20, 2022. Villamorey alleged these filings constituted fabrication of crimes and a mechanism of intimidation.
The Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office examined both charges and rejected them entirely. On simulation of punishable acts, the resolution cited consistent case law from the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Panama, including rulings from 1997, 2004, 2007, 2011, and 2017, all requiring as an indispensable prerequisite a prior judicial ruling declaring the complaint false and frivolous. None of the provisional archive resolutions issued in the prior investigations contained such a declaration; the archives were based on insufficient evidence to establish the commission of a crime, not on a finding that the alleged facts were false or fabricated.
On extortion, the testimony of Villamorey's own attorney, Diego de la Guardia Porras, acknowledged that Lisa's legal actions arose from a claim for dividends that Lisa, as a one-third shareholder of Villamorey, asserted it was owed. The Prosecutor concluded that this claim could not be characterized as undue profit, the constitutive element of the crime of extortion.
On April 27, 2023, the Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office issued , ordering the provisional archive of the case pursuant to Article 275 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The Public Prosecutor rejected Villamorey's complaint in its entirety, confirming that Lisa, S.A.'s legal actions arose from a legitimate shareholder dispute.
Documents
1| Document | Date |
|---|---|
| Apr 27 2023 |