Friday, December 21, 2007

ROP Land under assault

I was forwarded an article about the original land dispute we were all aware of and how it has expanded to more land. The writer points out how the claim has to be bogus given certain facts surrounding the case.

One point was well made in that the company (6 Diamonds) claims to have paid $4M for property that Red Frog has the rights to (and has won 2 court cases regarding this property already). However, no taxes were paid to Panama's government on that sale... 10% or $400,000. If they did buy it, then they are guilty of tax evasion. If they didn't really buy it, then this would explain why the taxes have never been paid.

The fact that this claim has expanded from the original land that was in dispute concerns me, as our beach front lot is still ROP land and could conceivably be drawn into this or some other lawsuit. If the ROP situation is not resolved by this summer, we may have a decision to make.

Mick @ Lot 83

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Red Frog's December conference call fails to impress

In my opinion, there has never been any doubt as to the honesty and integrity of the "boys" of Red Frog. I have always gotten the feeling that they want this project to succeed, and that message was surely communicated in the latest conference call.

However, will combined problems of the strike, the mortgage "crisis" in the US and government corruption be too much to overcome? It certainly sounded like the timing of each affected the outcome of the others... that the financial partners were not coming to the table because of the strike delay... and the issue of ROP land turning out to be a bigger deal than originally thought.

Being an optimist about this project (and not really financially hurt by the strike delay, though our money is just sitting there earning nothing) I think perseverence will win out. But Joe's voice sounded tired and I am wondering how much more he can take.

The gist of the conference call was essentially what was said in the newsletter. The only really new thing was the fractional ownership option being introduced. It sounds like a good option for some of those people from whom I've heard that are having money problems and wonder if they should stay in. I don't think it will affect property values that much, if at all.

One thing I did notice was that Chris was not in attendance. At first I thought they were going to announce that he'd left the company. Happily, only his position has changed. I can only speculate that he was traveling, and this could have been the reason he did not participate in the call.

We will see if patience will win out!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

The new 30 day visa regulations

This month's Bocas Breeze has an excellent explanation of the latest visa regulations, how it got passed and why nobody, even in Panama, knew about it before it was law!

It also explains in great detail what is required of tourists with regard to paperwork... which seems cumbersome, to say the least.

Immigration began enforcing this new law with a bang by sending out undercover patrols stopping tourists and demanding proof of legal immigration status. Most tourists do not know that Panama requires everyone over 18 years of age to possess positive identification and all foreigners must carry a passport, tourist card, immigration visa, residency carnet, or cedula (national ID card). Immigration arrested some tourists while allowing others to retrieve their papers and gave others strict warnings to always carry their ìpapersî. Other tourists denied re-entry to Panama because immigration border guards felt they had left and returned too many times...

Another excerpt says:

...It is against the law to overstay your tourist visa in every country. You can be subject to arrest and deported back to your country of origin. (Oh yeah? Not in the US. We offer them amnesty!) If you do over stay your visa and are not caught all is forgiven if you go to Immigration before leaving Panama and pay a fine of $275 for overstaying by 12 months or $300 for more than 12 months. Immigration gives you a document to show Immigration officers at the airport or border so you are legally free to go and return after 72 hours...

Read the entire article here.

Mick @ Lot 83