Prosecutor dismisses Villamorey's complaint alleging simulated crimes and extortion by Lisa, S.A.
Apr 27 2023
Public Prosecutor
On April 27, 2023, the Section for Crimes Against Liberty, Honor, the Administration of Justice, and Internal State Personality of the Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office resolved to provisionally archive the criminal complaint filed by Villamorey, S.A. against Harald Johannessen Hals, associated with Lisa, S.A. The resolution concluded that the alleged conduct did not constitute a crime under either the false criminal accusations or the extortion theory, and ordered the case closed under Provisional Archive No. 117.
On September 15, 2022, attorney Moisés Barlett Quiel, representing Ramiro López Nimatuj as legal representative of Villamorey, S.A., filed a criminal complaint against Harald Johannessen Hals for alleged crimes against the administration of justice (simulation of punishable acts and calumny in judicial proceedings) and against liberty (extortion). The complaint was based on Lisa, S.A.'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 that these filings constituted simulation of punishable acts and a mechanism of intimidation.
On simulation of punishable acts. The Prosecutor reviewed the applicable Panamanian case law and determined that this crime requires, as an indispensable prerequisite, a prior judicial ruling declaring the complaint false and frivolous. The resolution cited multiple decisions from the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, including rulings of July 30, 2007 (authored by Justice Graciela Dixon), August 19, 1997, August 31, 2004, January 27, 2011 (authored by Justice José Abel Almengor), and May 5, 2017 (authored by Justice Harry Díaz), all consistent in requiring this prerequisite.
"Para que se inicie una investigación por este delito, se requiere la existencia de una resolución previa de la autoridad jurisdiccional" (Page 3)
The Prosecutor concluded that none of the provisional archive resolutions issued in the prior investigations contained any declaration of frivolity or falseness regarding Lisa, S.A.'s complaints. 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 office determined that the complaint lacked factual support for this charge. The crime of extortion requires that the intimidating action pursue "undue profit" (lucro indebido), meaning an illicit gain. The testimony of attorney Diego de la Guardia Porras, who represented Villamorey, 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, as it was grounded in a legitimate shareholder dispute.