U.S. Attorney Warns That Wilson Lucom’s $100 Million Donation to Children’s Charities in Panama At Risk of Vanishing, Thanks to Theft and Corruption
BOCA RATON, FL - The largest donation ever made in the history of Panama is on the verge of disappearing, thanks to an incredible case of corruption and government malfeasance in this Central American country.In 2006, Wilson Lucom, an American expatriate, willed the bulk of his estate – now estimated to be worth over $100 million – to be donated to help eradicate hunger-related deaths among poor children in Panama. However, a corrupt legal system and the refusal of the government to intervene has allowed this donation to be delayed for over two years by a multitude of frivolous lawsuits, while the family of Lucom’s widow, Hilda Arias, and their team of lawyers have launched a methodical effort to steal and partition the estate.
“The Wilson Lucom case is the most remarkable example of injustice I have ever seen in my three decades of practicing international law,” said Richard S. Lehman, a Florida-based attorney who serves as chief executor of the Lucom estate. “This country will never outlive the shame it deserves if the Arias family and their lawyers are allowed to steal this money from the poor children of Panama.”
After more than a year of being kept out of the country, threatened with arrest, being listed on Interpol’s red notice alert as a dangerous criminal and having to take extraordinary methods to stop the theft of over six million dollars in his client’s assets, Lehman has recently discovered that the Arias family, its lawyers, an affiliated real estate group and several California-based companies have been secretly destroying the only item of value still left in the multi-million dollar estate that was supposed to be donated to children’s charities – the 7,200 acre Hacienda Santa Monica.
This highly coveted parcel of land, located one hour outside of Panama City on the west coast, with roughly three miles of beachfront property, was appraised as high as $144 million by the formal administrator in the case.
During the two years that the Wilson Lucom will dispute has continued in the Panamanian courts, 100 acres of beachfront property in the Hacienda Santa Monica have been secretly partitioned – using a clever ploy involving several fishermen who were told to claim tenant rights – and sold to several California investment groups. These land sales are illegal, but nonetheless they will wreck the value of the estate and lead to years of litigation to resolve the estate’s true ownership rights. The partitioned hacienda will also prevent the original developer from continuing with plans to buy the property, in which the proceeds would have gone to charity – either in full, or by incorporating a lifetime real estate tax on the developed properties.
The multi-million dollar Lucom estate is now “hanging by a thread,” according to Lehman, as it is on the verge of becoming completely worthless. These illegal land sales could ruin any chance for the estate to donate millions of dollars, as Lucom wished, to the “poor children of Panama.”
Childhood malnutrition is a major problem in Panama, and this multi-million dollar donation is badly needed. According to UNICEF:
- Panama is one of two Central American countries that have experienced a significant rise in childhood malnutrition in recent years
- Roughly 19-percent of kids are affected
- More than half of indigenous children are severely underweight
- More than half of children under five live in poverty
- 2,000 children under the age of five die each year
More information at www.LucomChildren.com
About Richard Lehman
A former senior attorney for the IRS, Richard Lehman is a prominent U.S. attorney specializing in taxation and international law. In addition to U.S. law, Lehman is an expert on Panama's complicated and problematic legal system. Lehman is a graduate of Georgetown Law School and has a master's degree in taxation from NYU. Web site: www.lehmantaxlaw.com .
