Order 176

Procedural Context

The Fifth Court's assumption of the case originates in Order No. 2119 of October 31, 2022, by which that same court sustained the recusal motion filed by the law firm Galindo, Arias y Lopez, counsel for Villamorey, S.A., against Judge Solange Le Ferrec Malek de Booker of the Fourth Circuit Civil Court, removing her from the proceeding. The recusal forms part of a broader pattern of procedural maneuvers by Villamorey to resist the judicially ordered accounting.

By the time of this transfer, the record already contained rulings adverse to the defendant. The Fourth Circuit Civil Court had declared Villamorey in contempt for failing to comply with the order to render accounts in <doc id="pty-14606-21-2022-04-08-a" /> of April 8, 2022, decreed an attachment of $44,913,412.00 over retained dividends in <doc id="pty-14606-21-2022-08-02-a" /> of August 2, 2022, and the First Superior Tribunal had confirmed the contempt finding on appeal in its <doc id="pty-14606-21-2022-10-25-a" /> of October 25, 2022, just three months before this transfer.

The criminal complaint Villamorey filed against Judge Le Ferrec for alleged abuse of authority was archived by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in <doc id="pty-202200067006-2023-04-23-a" /> of April 23, 2023, which found no criminal conduct. Lisa, S.A., in turn, filed a criminal complaint for judicial intimidation against Villamorey, admitted by the same Prosecutor's Office in <doc id="pty-202200070875-2023-05-29-a" /> of May 29, 2023, on the basis that the complaint against the judge constituted an act of intimidation aimed at altering judicial decisions adverse to the defendant.

Ruling

• Assume jurisdiction over the summary accounting action filed by Lisa, S.A. against Villamorey, S.A., transferred from the Fourth Circuit Civil Court.
• Order the annexation to the main case file of the contempt incident filed by Lcda. Maria Luisa Villarreal P., counsel for Lisa, S.A., and the recusal file submitted by the firm Galindo, Arias y Lopez, counsel for Villamorey, S.A., with corrected pagination beginning at page 240.

Legal Basis

• Article 159 of the Judicial Code — governs assignment of the case to the court that resolves the recusal.
• Articles 465 and 466 of the Judicial Code — provisions on judicial recusal.
• Articles 1379 et seq. of the Judicial Code — rules applicable to summary accounting proceedings.

Signatories

• Lcda. Lisbeth A. Rodriguez, Fifth Circuit Civil Judge, Special Substitute
• Lcda. Evelyn Carrion Basso, Judicial Secretary