www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Man pround man dressed in a little,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,willie s...........

“Man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority, like an angry ape, play such fantastic tricks before high heaven as make the angels weep”

Man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority, most ignorant of what he is most assured, his glassy essence, like an angry ape, plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as make the angels weep; who, with our spleens, would all themselves laugh mortal.

I cannot believe Big John at the DR would be involved with the drug trade.

Investor case against Luis Milanes slows to a crawl
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The 527 investors who hope to get money back from Luis Ángel Milanes Tamayo have suffered another reverse.

A preliminary court hearing scheduled for a few weeks has been put off and the case appears to be back to square one. In addition, investors have learned that Milanes never put up $15 million in cash that he promised when a judge let him out of prison after just a few hours a year ago.

Milanes was the operator of Savings Unlimited, one of several high-interest borrowing operations. He closed up his operation one weekend in November 2002 and vanished. The loss to investors was in the neighborhood of $200 million.

June 19, 2008, Milanes turned up at an airport in El Salvador using a false passport, said the International Police Agency. Instead of being held, law officers allowed him to continue his trip to Costa Rica where prosecutors awaited him. It was apparent that Milanes had made arrangements with prosecutors to surrender.

Milanes was ordered to preventative detention for six months but got out in a few hours by posting some $10 million in property and promising to post $15 million in cash.

Estimates of the loss to those who have joined the fraud case against him range from $40 to $50 million.

In the meantime, representatives of Milanes have been negotiating with some investors and offering them cents on the dollar to drop their case. Milanes operated and continues to operate a chain of casinos in San José and elsewhere.

In all, the Milanes operation has about 47 separate companies, said court papers. Investors were led to believe that Milanes owned the Hotel Europa, the Hotel Royal Dutch, the Hotel Costa Rica Morazán, the casinos Europa, Tropical, Royal Dutch, Majestic, La Condesa and the Tobby Brown beauty shop chain. All but the Royal Dutch actually were rented properties, said court papers. Many investors thought they were part owners of the hotels and casinos.

The latest legal problem appears to have to do with the paperwork on the court file. A judge rejected the case. A judicial worker said that all parties to the case were not notified correctly. That means a preliminary hearing might not be scheduled until August at the earliest, one investor said.

Some get the sense that prosecutors want the investors, mostly U.S. and Canadian citizens, to settle their case. They may have good reason.
When Milanes left he cleaned out the offices in Centro Colon and did not leave behind much evidence.

There also has been turnover in the lead prosecutors.

Another reason may be because prosecutors cannot produce a principal witness, Adolfo Somarribas Arias, who was captured in Luxembourg last November. He is believed to be a close associate who handled the Milanes accounts in Europe.

He is fighting extradition there and also faces a local money laundering charge. Somarribas is a well-known lawyer here and once sought the job of defensor de los habitantes.

Also being investigated in the case, according to court documents, are: Enrique Pereira Oceguera, general manager of Savings Unlimited; Michael Gonzalez Espinoza, the manager of accounts; José Victor Poo, identified as a supervisor of the operation; Enrique Pereira Sila, auditor general; José Milanes Tamayo Coto, the brother of Luis Milanes, who worked as the general manager of an associated company; Mercedes del Carmen López Blandon, a former Milanes housekeeper who rose to a position of confidence in the operation, and Herman Zango Milgram, a man court papers allege hide money for the Milanes operation. All are free but some served periods of preventative detention.

Although today the idea that a company can pay 3 to 5 percent interest a month on investments seems unlikely, when Savings Unlimited was in operation from 1999 to 2002, there were at least five similar firms offering about the same deal.

The most well-known was the defunct Luis Enrique Villalobos operation in Mall San Pedro. He was secretive about what he did with the money and paid his investors each month with cash stuffed in an envelope. He required a $10,000 initial investment.

Milanese had a different image. While Villalobos conducted business behind a nondescript entry, Milanes had etched glass doors. He had what appeared to be a teller's window inside the office giving the place a suggestion of a bank or loan company. The furnishings were plush and inviting. He gave computer-generated statements.

While Villalobos gave Bibles to his creditors, Milanes associates would take investors on casino and nightlife tours.

Workers at the Milanes operation always said he was investing the borrowed money into casinos. He once offered $100,000 to the Abel Pacheco campaign in late 2001, but Pacheco rejected the money.

I cannot believe Big John at the DR would be involved with the drug trade.