BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov 21, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- An illegal Panamanian arrest warrant against U.S. attorney Richard Lehman has been overturned by that country's Supreme Court in a recent ruling that highlights the growing tensions between American interests and the country's alleged corruption-plagued lower courts, Lehman announces.
In its ruling, the Panamanian Supreme Court overturned a November 2007 ruling by the First Judicial Circuit of Panama that wrongly charged Lehman with defamation, slander and extortion in the high-profile Wilson Lucom case. The charges were made by a Panamanian attorney in an alleged effort to prevent Lehman from re-entering the country to defend Lucom's multi-million dollar donation to poor children in Panama. This is the second of two false arrest warrants and the last of 14 criminal charges that Lehman has had to overcome in his effort to defend his client's will in Panama.
"The Supreme Court's ruling, which adjudicates me of any wrongdoing, is a vindication of my legal crusade in Panama to defend the will of a deceased American expatriate against corruption and to protect his wish to donate millions in food aid to help the poor children of Panama," Lehman said.
In 2006, Wilson Lucom, an American expatriate living in Panama, 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, due to aggressive efforts by Lucom's widow, Hilda Arias, and her attorneys -- including a multitude of lawsuits, criminal charges, arrest warrants and a false red notice alert on Interpol -- this badly needed food aid has been indefinitely delayed and is in danger of vanishing completely.
Lehman also recently uncovered alleged evidence of a widespread conspiracy by the Arias family and others to illegally claim ownership of a 7,200 acre beachfront estate that represents the bulk of Lucom's donation to charity.
According to Lehman, the Wilson Lucom legal saga is a prime example of the legal misconduct prevalent in the Panamanian courts which is often used against American expatriates and other foreign citizens, costing millions of dollars each year in legal expenses, fines, bribes and illegal detainment.
For more information about the Wilson Lucom case, visit www.lucomchildren.com, www.youtube.com/expatriatejustice or www.lehmantaxlaw.com.
SOURCE: U.S. Attorney Richard Lehman
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