Javier Castillero Anzola, Senior Clerk at the Eleventh Circuit Civil Court, testified before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor that Bosch Gutiérrez assumed the judicial depositary obligation for $281,172.85 in Lisa, S.A. dividends and the court never confirmed whether the funds were actually retained.

Sequestration and Appointment of Depositary

The sequestration was decreed in the ordinary proceeding with counterclaim that Lisa, S.A. filed against Villamorey, S.A. It targeted shares and dividends that Villamorey held in companies located in Guatemala, decreed up to the sum of $281,172.85. Following the court's notification, Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez, acting as Villamorey's legal representative, informed the court by letter recorded at page 2163 of volume 7 of the case file that he would comply with the order and keep the retained dividends at the tribunal's disposal.

"La empresa secuestrada mediante nota que reposa en el tomo 7 folio 2163 manifestó a través de su representante legal Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez que hacía efectiva nuestra orden y que mantendría a disposición del tribunal el monto por el cual fue decretado el secuestro" (Page 3)

The witness, a court employee since 2001, recounted that Villamorey filed an incident seeking partial lifting of the sequestration for excess. The Eleventh Civil Court partially granted the request, but the Superior Court of the First Judicial District reversed that decision and maintained the precautionary measure in its original terms.

Case Conclusion and Failure to Verify

The officer stated that the civil proceeding concluded through set-off of the judgments entered on the main claim and the counterclaim. He identified a fact central to the criminal investigation: the court never verified whether Villamorey actually retained the funds corresponding to the sequestration. Because the Panamanian court's orders had cross-border effects in Guatemala, where the companies in which Villamorey held shares on behalf of Lisa, S.A. were located, verification proved impossible from within Panamanian jurisdiction.

Castillero Anzola explained that when the judgment was entered and the sequestration was elevated to an attachment during execution proceedings, Lisa requested the auction of the shares. The court denied that request, and it was from that denial that the dispute between the parties arose over the sums that should have remained retained.

Depositary's Obligation

The witness expressly identified Villamorey as the entity obligated to maintain the funds at the court's disposal, citing Article 536 of the Judicial Code, which governs the obligations of a judicial depositary. According to his testimony, through the letter at page 2163 of volume 7, Bosch Gutiérrez personally assumed that obligation on behalf of Villamorey, making himself directly responsible for the custody of $281,172.85 in dividends belonging to Lisa, S.A.

Castillero Anzola's statement was taken within the criminal investigation under Cpt. 202300033850, weeks after the Official Notice in which ten civil courts of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama confirmed the absence of any proceedings against Lisa, S.A., and its content was expressly cited by Lisa in the Motion requesting formal indictment of Bosch filed on March 13, 2024.

Signatories

• Javier Antonio Castillero Anzola, Senior Clerk (Oficial Mayor II), Eleventh Circuit Civil Court of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama