Declares Villamorey in contempt for failing to render accounts, imposes $100 daily fines
Apr 8 2022
4th Civil Court
Through Order No. 463/14606-21 of April 8, 2022, the Fourth Civil Circuit Court of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama declared Villamorey, S.A. in contempt within the Summary Accounting Proceeding brought by Lisa, S.A. The ruling confirms that Villamorey failed to comply with the accounting mandate contained in Order No. 283 of February 25, 2021, which had granted Villamorey a 30-day period from notification to render accounts.
Attorney María Luisa Villarreal Palacios, acting as judicial representative of Lisa, S.A., filed the contempt motion on July 26, 2019. The court admitted it by resolution of December 29, 2021, and granted Villamorey a three-day period to respond. Villamorey answered through its counsel, the law firm Galindo, Arias & López.
Villamorey, through its attorneys, argued that Lisa's shares were attached by order of various courts in Guatemala, that Lisa lacked standing to judicially demand an accounting because only the shareholders' assembly could request one, and that Lisa should have grounded its claim in documents carrying executive merit. The court rejected all of these arguments.
The court verified that Order No. 283 expressly directed Villamorey to render accounts within one month of notification. The firm Galindo, Arias & López appeared before the court and was notified of that order, triggering the 30-day period, which expired on December 23, 2021. The court found no procedural evidence that Villamorey had complied:
"En base a lo anterior, podemos observar que no hay constancia procesal en el expediente de que se haya hecho la rendición de cuentas, tal como lo ordena el Auto N° 283/14606-21 de 25 de febrero de 2021." (Page 4)