Villalobos suspends operations

When it rains, it pours. The tax on books, now this. Is this the end of CR as we know it.

Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho issued a statement about 11:50 a.m. today in which he said he was closing his investment operations temporarily until he can resolve his situation with the Costa Rican courts.

He said it was impossible to continue working as normal while his bank accounts remain frozen.

He asked his creditors to maintain their understanding, their discretion and their confidence because he will do all that is necessary to pay his debts.

He asked Almighty God to provide the strength necessary so that this economic constriction does not hurt anyone.

A.M. Costa Rica will publish the full text of the

Villalobos statement in the newspaper of Tuesday. That should be online about 2 a.m. Tuesday Costa Rican time, which is equal to U.S. mountain daylight time.
The Villalobos office at the Mall San Pedro did not open this morning

The money changing operation, Ofinter S.A., that Villalobos says is owned by his brother, Osvaldo, did not open at its locations in Mall San Pedro and downtown San José.

This decision by Villalobos is a serious blow to his clients, mostly North Americans, who were waiting for the late payment of their monthly interest.

Forgive my ignorance but I would like to know who this person is and what it has to do with the books?.....Im kind of new to the industry localy

Nothing directly with books,except I am sure there are some owners with some cash in this establishment.The people who will get hurt the worst are the retirees who have all or most of their money here.I personally don't think thet are going to reopen.

3%+ per month?

What profitable business can this kind of juice?

What legit business ( bankable ) would pay this kind of juice?

So how long did suckers keep expecting to collect?


JC

For years and years. If this was a Ponzi scheme, it has paid a lot of people a lot of money before it finally crashed.

I tend to agree though, I doubt they will be reopening. The Costa Rican government can't be better than the US government when it comes to keeping money that appears tainted once they have their hands on it.

The suckers have been collecting for over 20 years. Seems pretty strong to me. Any business can be shut down by frozen bank accounts.

As for the 3% per month, there are still about 10 places paying this out month after month.

The only problem with your statement is that you didnt use PAST tenses. The suckers colleted...not collecting.

IT'S OVER.

I think all of the other Ponsi scheme places will go under too. I just heard the "cubans" are only paying interest now, and that they can't pay principle. The Bros. situation caused a run on their bank and they said they'd have to liquidate some of their dogshit casinos to pay, which they are not going to do at this time. By the way, these casinos aren't worth much anyway. They are "brick-and-mortar" like Shrink pointed out once, but the casino owners don't own the brick-and-mortar...just th rights to operate there.

Anyways, this is a huge, red-flag on the Cubans or any other of these institutions offering unrealistic returns. www.amcostarica.com

I heard the brothers are bailing out NAB! /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Med student calls Villalobos allegations ignorant

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

As a medical student and head of a household here in Costa Rica, the events that have surrounded Ofinter, S.A., have been one of the most ignorant ever seen at any level of government. To actually fathom that, after around 30 years and who knows how many millions of dollars later, Villalobos would dirty his hands over $300,000 is darn absurd . . .

If the money was sent by bank wire/transfer, the real question is why did the Canadian bank and or the Canadian police not stop the transaction at its origin? Or even freeze it here in San José?

The government as I understand it, has as of this writing (Oct. 16) not even filed any formal charges against anyone? In the end would it not be the Canadian Government the one that should head its investigation from Canada since in the end allegedly it was a Canadian doing illegal things in Canada, not Costa Rica?

You would have to place an electronic gadget on every bill in print to know exactly where and from whom it comes from. I have heard rumors from supposed reliable sources that the government is going to charge Ofinter, S.A. with a ponzi scheme.

Wow, this will really take the cake: a ponzi scheme that lasts for thirty years? Come on, get real, if that is what the government intends to do in the end. It is common knowledge that here in Costa Rica typical loans range from 3 to 5 percent per month. Don’t believe me?

Go to Puriscal and there are people that sit in the park that will loan you on the spot $500,000 without batting an eye with 5 percent up front and 5 percent per month.
In fact, one is famous for walking around without any shoes. What I am trying to say is that if in a small town like Puriscal you see people who have made small fortunes and live super well, why is it so hard to think that in a city like San José, and with the time Villalobos has in business it would be hard to sustain 2.8 to 3.0 percent per month? Could you get a bank loan for less than that? 36 percent. Not likely.
So, everyday the banks loan out cash at sky-high rates — that is not suspicious? Look at the take on credit cards here — it’s crazy. Now I am left without the possibility to continue my studies because some D.A. takes his time and does not even come up with any charges so at least Villalobos can go before a judge to at least have his say. I think the D.A. is speaking loud and clear . . .

He does not care about the suffering of God knows how many people who depend on this. He wants his name in the paper. If they have proof come forth. Give everyone a chance in court to prove or disprove. But stop this "Oh, we are investigating" nonsense. Everyone here knows that the police have limited investigative skills. They have a hard time investigating a purse-snatcher, much less a business of this magnitude.

For that one alleged Canadian (whom I have not yet seen tried in a court of law) who supposedly sent money. I bet there are thousands of others that have invested legal funds and proved it. That money is not Villalobos’ money, it’s the investors’ money who made a personal loan to him because of the friendship involved. Let the D.A. know that loud and clear.

J. Duke M.
Puriscal

Editor's Note: We have no knowledge of any anticipated charges of running a ponzi scheme.

Don't take this negatively, but what is your point?

Just providing someone's point of view.

I hear that they will try to pay back people in January and that they will start a new office for the "people who have stuck with them", if you can believe that. There is a lot of hear-say right now, but I think it is better to look at actions, not words. They've closed down the offices in San Pedro and downtown SJ last Sunday night, moving out all the office furniture, equipment, etc. They've terminated the 300 some employees they claim to have. None of it is good news. Even to little money changing house has shut down.

Are you going to tell me htese guys don't have a shitload of money in some numbered Swiss bank account.

This is exactly what they were talking about when all your life you hear the expression "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is." 3% a month, c'mon.

I'm going to Puriscal to borrow from that homeless guy.

Pirate, how do you explain him never missing a payment for over 20 years @ 3% per month? I ponzi scheme can not last over 2 or 3 years. Whatever he was doing it was highly profitable. If I was able to pay 3% per month and still make a profit I wouldn't be spreading the word about how to do it either.

Tell me you never had money in the Brothers. Tell me you didnt have to yank it out to keep Bash afloat.

Yes, I had money in and out of the brothers. While I had money in there, their were a few red-flags. One time I requested a withdrawel for $10,000 which was approved and scheduled for a month later. The day before I was to pick the money up, they called me and asked if it was ok to pay me in another three weeks. (this was a year ago btw) I replied that we had agreed on the specific date. They came back with "Oh, alright. If we agreed on paying you tomorrow than that's what we'll do." They knew damn well what we agreed on. 10 dimes is a pissant amount to this operation. They should be walking around with that as pocket change. The fact that they wanted to stall me three weeks over 10 dimes was a little strange. Don't you financial investment experts agree?

And about whether or not it's a ponsi-scheme...They're paying out 36% a year. If, with the money invested in there and the other operations they have going, money-changing, lending and so-forth, they grid out 18% or 20% a year, they can keep this thing going with new monies to make up the deficit on what they have to pay out. With the way this thing was expanding, pretty soon they would reach a figure that was larger than the national product to pay out the monthly interest due. 36% compounds pretty quickly. Ponsi and piramid scemes work until they get too big, then it collapses under it's own weight. They do work for a while though, and the reason for that is the trust and confidence people have in what is being offered. Once that trust is gone and new investors can't be found, it's done. Some people will have profitted from it, but those who were left holding the bag, those who invested late in the scheme....they get screwed.

Of course they were paying for a long time. That's how they ended up with so goddamn much money.

No ponzi scheme has ever lasted over 20 years. Do the math, it simply is not possible. It's not like they were pushing to get new investors.