According the Wikipedia the word carpetbagger has it’s roots in the reconstruction period in the Southern United States, the description is alive and well in Panama with some twists.
“In United States history, carpetbagger was a pejorative term Southerners gave to Northerners (also referred to as Yankees) who moved to the South during the Reconstruction era, between 1865 and 1877.
The term referred to the observation that these newcomers tended to carry “carpet bags,” a common form of luggage at the time (sturdy and made from used carpet). It was used as a derogatory term, suggesting opportunism and exploitation by the outsiders.”
“In sum, carpetbaggers were seen as insidious Northern outsiders with questionable objectives meddling in local politics, buying up plantations at fire-sale prices and taking advantage of Southerners.“
A Carpetbagger Source Wikicommons
Many of the new immigrants to Panama come to live with a lower cost of living and we certainly do try to acquire property at what compared to the North would be fire sale prices, but this post is not about us, them. This post is about the expats who come here to defraud other expats who come to Panama.
It is considered very dangerous to write anything negative about anyone in Panama, free speech in the media is tempered by lawsuits under the Calumnia e Injuria laws which generally allow anyone to file criminal and civil charges against anyone for defamation even if the defamation is warranted by the facts being true. The law, common to much of Latin America chills the media from saying much.
I have been wanting to expose some of the people who pray on new immigrants for some time, I too have been tempered. This past week I listened to a story from a man who lent $140 to an expat in need, that expat thanked him for the loan and now refuses to repay it. There are petty con men who ask for a loan and do not repay it, there are expats who contract for labor and do not pay the bill and the locals who do the same. All of the above can occur since the judicial system here is at best slow. I say at best because cables released by Wikileaks also stated that the US Embassy believed it to be corrupt on all levels.
These are petty criminals compared to the real carpetbaggers, the ones who are accused of stealing the life savings of new immigrants. Some people who, for what ever reason fail to due their due diligence before turning over thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars to someone they barely know to buy some property. They fail to do their homework, they trust the seller who might not even own the property being sold. These people fail to hire a lawyer, they fail to investigate, they trust. The type of carpetbagger who does that is sophisticated, eloquent and called a con man.
Under the law in Panama I am allowed to report items made public by the courts of Panama. Using this I would like to make the community aware of an order from the Forth Circuit Court in the Provence of Chiriqui. The order dated July 4 2011 is about a man many might know, Royston Martin Knigth. He was called to appear for trial on charges of fraud against another expat for selling land that does not exist, for more than $ 20,000.00. The judge imposed an injunction that can not leave the country until the end of the trial.
The trial will prove innocence or guilt, maybe, but the fact that a judge has seen enough merit to prohibit Mr. Knigth from leaving the country until the trial makes for a legal fact.
As I learn more I will write about it.
i rarely read something and feel compelled to comment, but this made me want to throw up, and re-post EVERYWHERE….READ THE NAME MENTIONED
I’m not sure that I get the point of a post like this at the current time. All it does is make an inference that an individual might have done something wrong. If the situation is being handled by the courts, why not let it play out and report the outcome when a decision is made? If the courts find that there was a crime, it would be of benefit to the community to understand how it happened with the lessons learned that could keep it from happening to others in the future. That would be a community service. But, this is premature.
How do you say, “caveat emptor” en Espanol?
wryawry said it all, Caveat emptor.
To Bill, the issue may be that Mr. Knight has defrauded and bilked quite a few people in Boquete (and perhaps elsewhere) out of large sums of money, this is just the tip of the iceberg. He, along with some others (Villegas, Gruber, “Watersnake”, just to name a few) specialize in those who have “just arrived,” and think that they actually have reasonable recourse in Panama, when pragmatically-speaking, they do not. There are those who have recovered, or partially recovered, some of these ‘bad investments’ from Roy Knight, but not all are so lucky. At the very least, it winds up taking a great deal of time and money to recover anything, and in this type of battle of attrition, only the con-man wins. Those who come here arrive wishing for a life of peace and happiness and simplicity for the most part, and like the innocent bird just before the fer-de-lance strikes, are taken in by the distractions around them and are not looking for the viper.
Bob,
Yes, it’s apparent that more than a few people feel that they were bilked. My point was simply that the issue was already in the hands of the legal system, and trial in a public forum is not appropriate. All of these people do have an opportunity to support the on-going legal action by providing facts concerning their experience to the plaintiff’s attorney. Collectively, they have a better chance of getting him put into the pokey for a while.
Bill, this story is not a trial. This post is to make public in English, a court record that is already publicly available in Spanish, most expats here to do read the Spanish language publications and court proceedings.. Perhaps by making this public it will encourage some unsuspecting person to do their due diligence before turning over a sum of money to a person accused of fraud.
All I am doing is what is legally permitted, just as any local newspaper can and does report on cases in court. The judge did decide there was sufficient cause to forbid Mr. Knigth from leaving the country pending a trial, which might be years in the future, if ever. This is not just reporting on the filing of a lawsuit but on a legal decision.
When you assume that everyone already knows, you make an ass of you and me. When good people stay silent and take the Wild West view that it’s every man for himself– that is just wrong. Thanks for the heads up, Lee. Appreciate the article.
How hard is it to find reputable lawyers or property specialists there?
WC
There are good lawyers and good property specialists. The best resources are people who have used them for specific purposes similar to your needs within the past year. Most lawyers seem to start good, some get better others get greedy and take on too many clients.
I think Royston Martin Knigth is going to prison and this will make a historical fact in Boquete…
I am new to Boquete Panama and have been looking at various properties around the area. I have heard a number of stories from people about a guy named Roy Knight being a con man. Is Royston Martin Knigth the same Roy Knight who is working for John Richardson at Montanas de Caldera, a development outside of town?
Steven, From what I have been told, this is the same person. Unless, of course, it is possible, the one could hear that same story from 50 different people, and all 50 0f them are wrong. This is just my opinion, and I have no actual proof. All 50 could be off their rockers, I suppose…..
Three years ago, we came close to buying a property up over Boquete from a man named Thirstin, or something like that. It turned out that the property was not his, but belonged to his x-wife. We were of the opinion that he did not plan on sharing the proceeds with said X…..
We should not blame the victims of carpetbaggers, as the laws, besides being very “different” (watching my tong) ., do not appear to be well enforced in some cases, leaving people in a bit of a lurch… The system works very slowly, and is somewhat like watching paint dry.
The story is the same, everywhere you go. No law can prevent you from giving your money to a crook, only you can.
Lee, does Mr. knight already finished his case there in panama? is his passport still frozen? or he is going to be on jail..
There is new information on this case and I will be writing about it this week.