INVESTMENT COLLAPSE

Expat community rocked by scandal

05-14-2009 | MARIJULIA PUJOL LLOYD

mpujolstar@laestrella.com.pa

While a case against a former Canadian lawyer drags its way through the system a local community is split

Panama Star PANAMA. The case of the London Asset Management Inc. property of the Canadian Mary Kathleen Sloane has taken another twist in a legal saga that has been in the hands of the Panamanian courts for more than 17 months.

Apparently, Mrs Sloane has been accused of allegedly running a ponzi scheme involving foreign exchange money in Penonome, Cocle province by some disgruntled investors, but the authorities have not yet taken any actions against her.

According to an article published by Eric Jackson in his blog, Panama News, Mary Sloane resigned from the British Columbia Law Society, after it was proven that she misappropriated client’s money, misled the client and the Law Society.

The Discipline Digest of the British Columbia Law Society, volume 2 of August 1992, said that in early November 1990, Mrs Sloane received $15,000 in trust from a client with instructions to send $5,000 to another party’s lawyer in trust and the remaining $10,000 to stay in the member’s law firm trust account.

The publication continues to explain how on November 23 Mrs Sloane sent an invoice for $7,500 using stationery not from her firm but her partner’s business company T.F. Corporation. She then directed the transfer of those funds, without the authorization of the client, to the general account. The misappropriated funds were used to pay for her law firm expenses and to make payments to T.F. Corporation.

On November 26 the client asked for his money back. She wrote a check for $15,000 in favor of the client, but stopped it before he could cash it.

On December 2, Sloane wrote a trust check for $7,500 in favor of the client promising that her partner woulf pay the rest of the money.

Eventually when the case was taken before the Law Society, the client received the rest of his money and Sloane admitted that she misrepresented herself and handed in her resignation.

Jackson’s article said that Sloane came to Panama and took an active role within the ex-pat community, becoming an integral part of it.

On August 16, 2006 Mrs Sloane registered London Asset Management for the purpose of playing the foreign exchange market.

Several people invested in the company. Until one of them accused her of allegedly running a scam and got the Panamanian authorities involved to investigate the operations.

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THE EXPAT COMMUNITY

Foreigners living abroad tend to get together forming tight communities in order to find their way around in new surroundings and forge friendships.

In Panama there are several social organizations exclusively formed by expats and their families. They have social events, orientation classes and the chance to talk to compatriots about their countries of origin.

For many foreigners these clubs are a safe-havens in which they can speak their own language, eat their own food and find like minded people.

It is not easy to make a new life away from your own country, where everything is new and strange. The expat community could be safety net for many, but these clubs are also the hunting grounds of con artists looking for gullible victims

MARIJULIA PUJOL LLOYD

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FACTS

In early November 1990 Mary Sloane received $15,000 in trust from a client.

On November 23 Sloane transferred her client’s money to her law firm general accounts.

She was brought before the BC Law Society and after an investigation tendered her resignation.