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Nov. 27, 2009
In our last EBS message which was
sent on November 15th and entitled
“November Update,” we announced that
we had engaged the services of a
Costa Rican attorney to conduct an
in-depth review of the case, and
that he was nearing the conclusion
of his study and evaluation. While
we have not yet completed our
analysis of his report, we can tell
you about the results of his
investigation of the statute of
limitations - referred to in
Spanish as “la prescripcíon.”
In a message we sent to investors on
December 10, 2008, this subject was
discussed and we noted at that time
that it was not clear to us how the
term of the statute would be
determined in this case or the date
to be recognized as the starting
point. This has now been
clarified. A declaration in the
case file states that the legal
status of Enrique Villalobos is that
of accused but absent (en ausencia)
because he was never formally served
with charges and therefore never
officially entered the judicial
process. The fiscal (prosecutor)
made the decision to go ahead
without him. Fortunately, Enrique
is not classified as a fugitive from
justice (en rebeldía), which would
have other more dire legal
consequences. Knowing the true
status of Enrique was key to
confirming that the term would be
for ten years, commencing with the
day of the raids on July 4, 2002.
Assuming LEV can avoid capture
before July 4, 2012, he will then
be a free man.
Why is this important to us now?
It’s because we have every reason to
believe that Enrique has resigned
himself to accepting this
alternative as the only means by
which he can regain control of his
accounts and fulfill his
obligations. He believes - and so
do we - that he has no chance to
get a fair trial here in Costa Rica,
and we still believe that he is our
only hope to recover our
investments.
We, however, are not without other
alternatives. Perhaps the most
promising of these would be to seek
indemnification from the government
for its inept and illegal handling
of the case which created thousands
of unintended (?) victims. We are
giving this serious consideration
and hope to soon provide you with
more details.
Grupo UCCR
www.ticostuff.com/uccr
uccr@ticostuff.com |