Wilson "Chuck" Lucom
Avid readers of Bananama Republic know of course that Panama is an international financial center with many banks and finance houses built on money laundering and shady dealings. That's why we have financial fraud artists like Monte Friesner here, and people like Gilbert Straub. The brochures tell you that we have banking privacy, rock-solid financial laws, first world service - and guess what? It's just plain bullshit. What we have here are thieves. Upper-class predators who will rob you of everything you have.
We had of course already the case of HSBC Panama which sequestered millions of dollars of Canadian retiree Peter Gordon, who had the audacity to criticize HSBC's service after moving his money to another Panamanian bank. HSBC's lawyer: one Hector Infante. Aides to HSBC's then-chief Joe Salterio: Such upstanding members of the expat community like dentist Charly Garcia (headed the American Society) and insurance man Kevin Bradley (sells insurance with an HSBC owned company).
And now we read in The Panama News that Hector Infante strikes again, this time on behalf of one of the worst inbred predatory rabiblanco families in Panama:
On August 6 the Civil Bench of the Panamanian Supreme Court --- Torrijos appointees Oyden Ortega and Harley Mitchell, and Moscoso appointee Alberto Cigarruista --- voted unanimously to void the will of US citizen and Panama resident Wilson Lucom.
Lucom, who had died childless in 2006, left his third wife, Hilda Piza (Arias), a condo and a quarter-million-dollar annual pension, with the residue of his estate, estimated to value around $50 million, as a charitable donation to poor children in Panama. Specifically mentioned in the testament were upgrades to public schools in poor communities and support for school lunch programs.
Wilson "Chuck" Lucom was a politician who served under the Franklin D. Roosevelt's and Harry S. Truman's administrations and retired to Panama a wealthy man. However, his idea of leaving large part of his fortune to help children who live in poverty did not go well with the Arias family:
The octogenarian widow, who in court appearances was not all that lucid, and the real parties in interest, her five children from her previous marriage to Gilberto Arias, challenged the will.
Gilberto Arias, the founder of the gory sensationalist tabloid La Critica, who served as minister of finance and once ran for vice president of Panama, was a son of the late President Harmodio Arias and nephew of the late President Arnulfo Arias. Harmodio and Arnulfo arose to prominence in the 1920s with the group Accion Communal, which used to dress up in Ku Klux Klan robes and campaiged to deport all Panamanians of Afro-Caribbean, Asian or Middle Eastern descent. Having briefly come to power in a coup that the US Embassy disapproved, Harmodio was later elected president. He appointed his brother Arnulfo as ambassador to Mussolini's Italy and later to Nazi Germany. Later, Arnulfo was elected president but on the eve of US entry into World War II the United States instigated a coup so as not to go to war with a Nazi sympathizer in charge of the Panamanian government. The political movement that the Arias brothers founded lives on in the Panameñista Party, which is a coalition partner in the Martinelli government.
Ironically, these elderly Arias bitches ladies often feature in positions of some prominence in charities and Union Club "hat and tea parties" to collect money for the needy.
The verdict comes after years of intrigue with fake murder accusations and false interpol warrants. Again, read the whole story in The Panama News.
We are just left wondering, who in his right mind would even consider moving any substantial amount of money to Panama or invest in this robbers den? Wouldn't this case alone be enough reason to review this "investment grade" our government is so proud of?
This is major leagues’ “juega vivo”….who cares about the poor children and little people?
I am no lawyer, but seems to me that the next logical step is to contest this ruling in the USA where Lucom’s fortune and real estate assets are.
If a Will is a Will, then what other interpretation must be given?
My last Will IS my Will… The rest is thievery
I am not a lawyer either, but is there a law, like in some european countries, where you cannot disinherit the wife? (and children although i realize in this case it is about the wife since the “kids” are hers and he did not adopt them). Inheritance law is very different here than in the US. I still think it was a sleezeball thing to do.