SURPRISED,….not me. MORE “shady” shit in the PARADISE “Bermuda Triangle” of Bocas del Toro.
“JB”-
Money goes IN, but it NEVER comes OUT. Panama shoots itself in the foot when REAL business tries to pull the region out of the Jurassic Era, and skulldyggery and back handed system keeps it in the weeds. Now we have a few scumbags on the LAM, and shit jumps up a noth.
Document forgery, corruption of public officials, and influence peddling. These are the charges in a lawsuit filed in Bastimentos, Bocas del Toro, involving the township representative, a former official of the National Land Administration Authority (ANATI), a Civil Circuit Court judge, and a legal advisor to multiple institutions, among others. The lawsuit, filed by Grupo Farigue, SA, alleges the existence of a “criminal organization” that operated a scheme involving the adverse possession of land and its subsequent sale.
Documentation available in the Public Registry and statements from the general administrator of ANATI, Andrés Fernando Pagés Chanis, confirm at least some of the allegations. ANATI prepared a report on the matter, and Pagés told La Estrella de Panamá that they will soon file their own legal action.Land business
It all began with breakfast at Lung Fung. According to the lawsuit, American businessman Richard Kiibler was in talks with Bastimentos representative Ashburn Stanley Dixon regarding the purchase of a plot of land. On the morning of September 19, they met, and Kiibler informed him that he would not be buying the land, citing that after due diligence, he had discovered two adverse possession claims filed at different times and with different legal bases for the same property.
“Kiibler states that Ashburn Stanley Dixon Santos admitted to him that the processes were fraudulent and based on falsehoods, and that everything had been carried out by Rigoberto Serrano. He also admitted that he had obtained the adverse possession of the property by paying the experts and the court,” the lawsuit details.
Adverse possession is a legal concept by which the possessor of a piece of land becomes its owner. According to Panamanian law, for it to be effective, the possession must be public, peaceful, and uninterrupted for a period of 15 years or more. After this period, any legally competent person may petition a judge for ownership rights to the land. A judge then determines whether or not to grant the claim based on the evidence presented.
In this case, the alleged scheme would be the acquisition of ownership by prescription, involving “commissions” for the experts and even the judge in charge of making the decision.
The property in question is parcel 2748, comprising 30 hectares, which was first registered in 1931. The parcel belonged to Samuel Joseph, who has passed away. In January 2023, Judge Jorge Augusto Santamaría ruled that the property had been acquired by adverse possession. Evidence presented showed that a man named Adalberto Earlington had lived there for over 30 years, working the land, building his house, and making improvements. Earlington then allegedly sold the parcel to El Faro de Bastimentos, SA, a company that, according to Public Registry records, was chaired by Enrique Livingston until September 2025. Livingston is named in the lawsuit as the brother of Representative Dixon.
Kiibler recounted his version of events to La Estrella de Panamá. “They showed me the property and told me it bordered ours. We were interested in buying it, but we knew who our neighbors were, and it wasn’t anyone with a title; it was national land. They managed to get a judge, who happened to be the lover of lawyer Rigoberto Serrano, the council’s legal advisor and also the mayor’s, to grant us adverse possession,” the American businessman explained. “I explained to the representative that we couldn’t buy it, that it was an act of corruption and conspiracy. They falsified documents to get them to falsify public deeds. I warned the director of the Public Registry a few months ago that this was going to happen, and finally, when we had all the evidence, we filed a complaint against all those people.”
According to Public Registry documents, the land is valued at $240,000, with improvements valued at $185,700. The amount for which the sale was allegedly offered to Kiibler and Grupo Farigue, SA is unknown.
On March 19, 2026, an order was issued signed by Judge Guadalupe del Carmen González adding the measurements and boundaries of the property.Anati investigates
One of the irregularities detected concerns the location of the property. The Anati administrator shared that a preliminary report was sent indicating an “overlap” with three other adjacent properties.
The reported boundaries are even different from the actual ones, placing the property on another island.
Pagés emphasized to La Decana that all these irregularities occurred during previous administrations. Furthermore, he revealed a fact that could indicate a larger systemic problem than a single isolated complaint. Around 15 complaints have been filed regarding similar situations on various farms in Bocas del Toro. “And more are coming,” he added. When asked what actions have been taken to prevent these practices, he replied that they would prepare the report and then file the corresponding complaints.
The administrator also emphasized that the decision to order the adverse possession of the property rests with the Judicial Branch, not with ANATI. Regarding the involvement of an employee of the institution in the lawsuit, he confirmed that she no longer works there.
The Dean made several phone calls to those named in the lawsuit to get their side of the story, but there was no response by the time of publication.Richard KiiblerComplainantI explained to the representative that we couldn’t buy it, that it was an act of corruption and conspiracy. They falsified documents to get them to forge public deeds.
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Hi JB all of the town is talking about this. As a result of the criminal lawsuit the Mayor as of Monday fired his legal advisor Mr. Serrano who is caught up in this mess. He is notorious for these fake prescription titles. There is a case now where he stole a title and made it into a park.