Hungry for Justice: Corrupt Courts in Panama Deny Impoverished Children $50 Million in Inheritance
• Feisty Miami Lawyer Takes on Panama’s Political Mafia
• Panama’s Financial Carnivores Salivate over $50 million Bequest
• The Country’s Corrupt Judicial Establishment in Deep Distress
Every three days, at least one Panamanian child dies from malnutrition. But in June of 2006, a glimmer of hope emerged for them in the form of the late American expatriate and multimillionaire, Wilson Charles Lucom. Mr. Lucom died in Panama at age eighty-eight, and he instructed in his will that the bulk of his life savings be bequeathed to a foundation intended to alleviate the hunger and poverty of Panama’s impoverished youth. Whether out of genuine empathy or familial spite (Lucom had not been a philanthropist during his life and left relatively little money to his wife), his bequest called for $50 million to be given to the poor children of Panama.
Lucom entrusted Richard S. Lehman, a highly regarded Florida lawyer and his long-time friend, to serve as Chief Executor of his will. On the surface, this was a simple task, given the explicit nature of Lucom’s request. Four years later, however, despite Lehman’s heroic efforts to execute the will, funds have not been distributed to the designated beneficiaries, and, thanks to the politically powerful Arias family and the demonstrably corrupt nature of the Panamanian judiciary, impoverished Panamanian children continue to suffer.
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associates Alexander Brockwehl & Devin Parsons
Blog de Octavio Islas 