The Council on Hemispheric Affairs update on the Wilson Lucom Case

By: Westanna Carleton, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

For the first time since the initial reading of Lucom’s will, prospects are looking up for the children of Panama. But make no mistake, this matter is far from over. Facts favorable to the original intent of Wilson Lucom’s will are just now coming to the forefront. This is as a result of new complaints being filed in the U.S. and Panama. While the matter is in litigation, steps are being taken to ensure the primary asset of the Lucom estate, Hacienda Santa Monica, is preserved or that ultimately its proceeds are reinvested to fund the Foundation for the Children of Panama.

The plight of the hungry children of Panama is a fact virtually obscured in the unfortunate tangling of a web of deceit and fraud that has characterized the probate of Lucom’s estate. It is true that 2015 marks another yearly notch in this ongoing corruption scandal. It is also true that with the help of brave prosecutors and reformers who are willing to stand up to the power elite and help Panama live up to its potential as a land of decency and justice, with this New Year there is a good chance that Lucom’s vision for uplifting the poor children of Panama will be finally realized.

This is an excerpt from the full article found here: http://www.coha.org/panama-cries-for-justice/

Richard S. Lehman Fights For What Is Right

excerpt from Latin America Report, How Panama Cut Poor Kids Out Of A Florida Millionaire's Will, by Tim Padgett

What has happened to Lucom’s will since he died in 2006 is a bewildering if not byzantine tale of legal intrigue that stretches from Panama City to Palm Beach County. Critics at home and abroad call it a stark illustration of Panama’s, and to a large degree Latin America’s, indifference to gaping wealth inequality and brazen judicial corruption – two factors that weigh down the region’s development like millstones.

Boca Raton tax attorney Richard Lehman was an executor of Lucom's will, and he's a central character in this Grisham-esque drama. “No one who has grown up in the American system, who believes in the law, can possibly be prepared for the lawlessness of Panama,” he says.

But the case may now be taking another important turn. “It’s not dead,” Lehman argues, “by any stretch of the imagination.” Read full article 

This decision is being appealed.

The RICO Lawsuit was dismissed based upon the Complaint being brought to the courts too late in time (Statute of Limitations). This decision is being appealed. Further information will be provided shortly.
Read full article here

U.S. News

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - When American multimillionaire Wilson C. Lucom died in 2006, he left most of his fortune to a new foundation dedicated to feeding Panama's poor children _ not to his politically-connected Panamanian widow, nor to her children.

Read  "Bequest to feed Panama children spawns legal fight, By CURT ANDERSON, AP Legal Affairs Writer":
http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=615&sid=2615634