Panama's Eleventh Circuit Civil Court decrees formal sequestration for $281,172.85 over Lisa, S.A.'s shares and dividends in eight Avícola Villalobos group companies, constituting judicial depositaries via letters rogatory to Guatemala.

Assets Subject to Sequestration

The secured amount comprises $236,772.91 in principal, $45,355.94 in costs, and $34.00 in provisional expenses, totaling $281,172.85. The measure attached two categories of assets:

Shares. Lisa, S.A.'s holdings in eight Avícola Villalobos group companies:

• Alimentos para Animales, S.A. (45,000 shares)
• Avícola Las Margaritas, S.A. (375 shares)
• Administradora de Restaurantes, S.A. (12 shares)
• Compañía Alimenticia de Centroamérica, S.A. (12 shares)
• Importadora de Alimentos de Guatemala, S.A. (12 shares)
• Industria Forrajera de Mazatenango, S.A. (125 shares)
• Inversiones Empresariales, S.A. (125 shares)
• Villamorey, S.A. (3,333 shares)

Dividends. All sums Lisa, S.A. was entitled to receive as declared dividends from any of the above entities.

Cross-Border Enforcement

Because seven of the eight companies are incorporated under Guatemalan law, the court ordered letters rogatory to notify the precautionary measure and constitute those companies as judicial depositaries of the attached dividends under Article 536(4) of the Judicial Code. Villamorey, S.A.'s president was notified directly as a Panamanian entity.

The response was swift. On November 25, 2008, less than a month after the decree, Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez, as Villamorey, S.A.'s legal representative, informed the court through Official Notice that the board of directors had implemented the order and that the retained dividends were at the court's disposal, formally assuming the role of judicial depositary.

Strategic Significance

This precautionary measure established the mechanism that, a decade later, the court would use to extinguish the entire judgment debt through set-off against the retained dividends, as ordered in Order 2277-2018 of December 5, 2018, entered within the Ordinary Lawsuit of High Value Exp. 556-99. The outcome preserved Lisa, S.A.'s shareholdings across the Avícola Villalobos group, which the opposing party had sought to auction.

Ruling

• Formal sequestration was decreed in favor of Villamorey, S.A. against Lisa, S.A. up to $281,172.85, enforcing the award entered in Judgement 42-08 of July 11, 2008
• Letters rogatory were ordered to the Guatemalan companies, directing them to note the measure and constitute themselves as judicial depositaries of the dividends
• Villamorey, S.A.'s president was ordered notified of the decreed precautionary measure

Legal Basis

• Articles 531 et seq. of the Judicial Code — govern precautionary sequestration measures, including the requirements for their decree, the constitution of judicial depositaries, and cross-border enforcement through letters rogatory

Signatories

• Lcda. María Leticia Cedeño Suira, Judge, Eleventh Circuit Civil Court of the First Judicial District of Panama
• Lcda. Raquel Guzmán Fernández, Clerk