Tweet
Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho maintained a hidden strongroom in the Mall San Pedro complex, and police failed to find the location when they raided the high-interest operation last July 4.
That’s what two individuals close to the situation said in e-mails over the last two weeks.
The first to mention the strongroom was Henk Guichelaar of Longview, Texas, who maintains a presence in Internet discussion groups under the username Skyboy.
In an e-mail May 9 to a disaffected investor, Guichelaar said that Villalobos was trying to distribute September interest payments to his many investors when he got wind that a second raid would take place. He added:
"A truck was backed up against the door to his ‘vault’ which opens to one of the parking levels at Mall San Pedro and our interest money (and then some) was taken to a safe place where it is to this day."
A second individual, J. Duke Moseley, said Tuesday that he, too, was aware of the vault. Said Moseley:
"It is a small room and was surrounded by cameras and such. Easy access to the parking lot. After all was said and done a long-time investor told me about the place and I went to
see it. There was nothing there (of course) but the room was as described."
Moseley, too, is well known as a participant in Internet discussions on the case. He lives here. Villalobos paid much of his monthly interest in cash contained in manila envelopes. Officials involved in the Villalobos investigation were asked if they had knowledge of the so-called vault last week via the public relations officer for the courts. But they did not reply.
Guichelaar did not say how he had such intimate knowledge of the Villalobos operation. He has not answered e-mailed questions. But if true, the report means that Villalobos spirited away many millions of dollars just before he closed down his high-interest operation Oct. 21.
Last September Villalobos said he was trying to set up a system whereby investor monthly interest would be deposited directly into their bank accounts.
That statement does not square completely with claims that Villalobos had vast sums in cash on his premises. And if the money was there in cash and later taken elsewhere, the question remains as to why Villalobos did not at least pay overdue interest to creditors who lived in Costa Rica.
Villalobos may have had as much as $1 billion in investor money on his books when he fled. At 3 percent monthly interest, some $30 million would accrue every 30 days.
However, many investors rolled over their interest as new principal, so the exact amount paid in cash each month is not known. A reasonable estimate is from $2 to $3 million.
That’s what two individuals close to the situation said in e-mails over the last two weeks.
The first to mention the strongroom was Henk Guichelaar of Longview, Texas, who maintains a presence in Internet discussion groups under the username Skyboy.
In an e-mail May 9 to a disaffected investor, Guichelaar said that Villalobos was trying to distribute September interest payments to his many investors when he got wind that a second raid would take place. He added:
"A truck was backed up against the door to his ‘vault’ which opens to one of the parking levels at Mall San Pedro and our interest money (and then some) was taken to a safe place where it is to this day."
A second individual, J. Duke Moseley, said Tuesday that he, too, was aware of the vault. Said Moseley:
"It is a small room and was surrounded by cameras and such. Easy access to the parking lot. After all was said and done a long-time investor told me about the place and I went to
see it. There was nothing there (of course) but the room was as described."
Moseley, too, is well known as a participant in Internet discussions on the case. He lives here. Villalobos paid much of his monthly interest in cash contained in manila envelopes. Officials involved in the Villalobos investigation were asked if they had knowledge of the so-called vault last week via the public relations officer for the courts. But they did not reply.
Guichelaar did not say how he had such intimate knowledge of the Villalobos operation. He has not answered e-mailed questions. But if true, the report means that Villalobos spirited away many millions of dollars just before he closed down his high-interest operation Oct. 21.
Last September Villalobos said he was trying to set up a system whereby investor monthly interest would be deposited directly into their bank accounts.
That statement does not square completely with claims that Villalobos had vast sums in cash on his premises. And if the money was there in cash and later taken elsewhere, the question remains as to why Villalobos did not at least pay overdue interest to creditors who lived in Costa Rica.
Villalobos may have had as much as $1 billion in investor money on his books when he fled. At 3 percent monthly interest, some $30 million would accrue every 30 days.
However, many investors rolled over their interest as new principal, so the exact amount paid in cash each month is not known. A reasonable estimate is from $2 to $3 million.
Comment