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I found the following article interesting…
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/29/Swine-Flu.aspxNo one who knows Jeff Hickcox would ever question his financial and investing knowledge, his ethics, his honesty or his commitment. He was a real estate investor in the US whose savvy showed him the “writing on the wall” way before many so called “experts”. He began to look for a more stable real estate market and a good place to raise his family. He found Costa Rica and studied it for years before he actually moved here. (I know, as I was the recipient of the questions for almost 2 years!) Since he arrived, he has immersed himself in learning first hand about Costa Rica, its culture, language, its varied climates (financial and otherwise), health care and of course real estate. He is probably THE smartest guy I know. I’m proud to call him my friend and blessed to have him as an investor/partner and adviser in our company.
Terry Mills
President, Costa Rica Land & PropertyTranslation……..
SUGEVAL warning to investors:
23 companies are offering securities without permissionEntities attract customers by offering high returns for their money
Superintendent cautions that they exercise no control over these companies
Mercedes R. AgüeroThe Superintendency of Securities (SUGEVAL) warned investors yesterday that 23 companies are offering financial products and brokerage services outside the law.
The firms promise high returns, account management positions through stockbrokers abroad, operation with one or more corporations and the use of Internet sites, warned SUGEVAL.
Also, on its Web site, the Superintendent published the list of companies that operate without their permission.
According to the Law of the stock market, the offering of securities in the Costa Rican territory, from abroad to Costa Ricans or from our country to foreigners without proper authorization SUGEVAL, is a wrongful act that is punishable by imprisonment.
The Securities Commission reported that over the years has received 18 complaints against such firms.
“SUGEVAL conducts a preliminary investigation when it receives a query or a complaint of this type. If irregularities are found it is necessary to put the case in the hands of judicial authorities,” said Eddy Rodriguez, head of Securities.
Rodriguez did not specify whether any of the 23 companies have already been forwarded to the Public Ministry.
The official said that a warning signal that they are “financial fly by nights” (I cant think of the precice word for “chinamo” in English) is that these companies are not regulated in any country. Typically these companies make bids by phone or email.
“If you have already put your money in the hands of such businesses, it is important to note that getting back what was invested is almost impossible,” said Rodriguez.
Companies without authorizationUnder the microscope
List of entities as SUGEVAL are not registered with the National Registry of Securities and Intermediaries. These companies do not have authorization to do SUGEVAL public offering of securities or brokerage services:
Armtrust, S. A., Capital Managers Clearing Corporation, Capital Managers Corporation, CR-Home S. A., First Republic Group of Funds, S. A., First Republic Securities Management & Consultant, S. A., Forex Latin Trader, Future Power Industries, Goldmill Wagner Associates (GWA), Hartford Capital Management, Interglobal Finance S. A., Interglobal Mergers and Acquisitions Inc., International Currency Traders S. A., Kennedy Investments Ltda., Kerford Investments S. A., Meridian Trading Group, Rosswell Spencer, Trade Exchange S. A. also known as “Tradex”, State Trust Group, Strategic Management, United Holding International, Universal Ventures y Wellington Trading Group.
My 2 cents:
I agree with Sally, it takes a lot to get government officials “riled up” here. Considering all the thieves and scammers operating in CR, this is a pretty small list of folks “operating outside the law”. Just imagine!Edited on Oct 01, 2008 14:29
I thought a long time about just letting this slide …. ONCE AGAIN, but I cannot let these insinuations pass when the reputation of our company and the good people who work with us has been questioned in such a manner..
First of all Mr.. DKT2u is hardly an impartial “bystander” who has only had “indirect” contact as his post suggest. He is not a client, past client or even prospective client. He is an associate of my ex-partner. Apparently this is personal. Whenever any type of partnership breaks up, it is not likely to be pretty and there are at least 2 sides to every story. I will not insult my friend Scott and the other users of this forum by starting (or even finishing as it were) a bunch of mud slinging. I have a clear conscience, and we prefer to let our clients speak for us as you can see elsewhere on this same site. I would also like to point out that defamation laws here in Costa Rica are very strict, so you better be able to back up and prove what you say (which I might add is pretty hard to do when it isn’t true!). Just for the record so you can say you heard it directly from me, I have been accused of stealing my ex-partner’s business and website. It is not true, but people will believe what they choose to believe and God knows my ex-partner is a very believable guy.
As further proof that this is personal, I present the following post from a thread in which DKT2u recently participated: (don’t get me wrong, I think it is good to know, and I personally have no problem with the post, but talk about fishing for clients…. makes my post pale by comparison, and did our friend DKT2u object??? of course not)
*************************************************************Posted Aug 12,2006 9:25 AM scottbenson
Yep, if you want when you go down town san jose to get your drivers license. On the courner right accross from the entrence of the MOPT (Moter vhiecle license center) building this is at Ave 18 between street 5-7, is my brother in-laws biz. I belive they have 8 doctors now working for them, Ask for Rafa Benavidous or Carlos. They will help you personaly, tell them Scott& Rebeca sent you. Then if you are hungry ask where the Soda is and they will point you to a good place to eat just down the block.
If you want to see a picture of them they are on the photo book of this site.
They have the biggest biz on the block and I will see them this Tuesday and tell them to give you guys a good deal!
***************************************************************In conclusion, yes, I was fishing…. for information, for my clients who are currently shopping in the Parrita area, thanks linlsd1 for providing it. I don’t need to fish for clients, and I will not discuss or answer any more insinuations on this forum. If anyone has a question about my integrity I suggest you ask Scott Oliver, one of our clients, or email me personally. This is not the place for your personal vendettas… period!
We work with a US loan company who works this way, the lein is transfered to your CR property after a year, but we havent worked with them long enough to actually see it happen. The rates are better than what you would expect here though.
Hey Scott, hope you are having a good time….
I asked a simple question, if anyone has an answer I would appreciate it. Meanwhile you guys need to take a good look at where you are at.. If you are even here. The title of Scott’s site is: We love COSTA RICA.com the NAR as I understand it is the NATIONAL association of realtors… National as in all 50 STATES. This is not the states. I suppose my lawyer is not a lawyer either because he does not belong to the BAR Association?
Why do people come here because they supposedly LOVE Costa Rica, then want to change everything to be like it is in the USA???
While I agree the real estate industry could use regulation and a good house cleaning, it has been my experience that some of the biggest crooks are ex-pats who are working here illegally and have big US real estate companies behind them.
REALTORS® means nothing here if the person behind it is not honest, because there are no laws to back you up and even if there were, anyone who has ever had experience with the court system here knows that you can forget that option. As Scott will tell you, you BETTER know who you are dealing with and the more references you get up front the better!!
All the real estate experience in the USA will not prepare you for the way things work here.
AND to DKT2u.. I am sorry if my mentioning how I make a living offends you, but I don’t think being rude is in the spirit of this board either.First, I am not in Parrita. It is a 2 hour drive for us, we simply met clients there. If I was trying to fish for potential clients I would have posted a way to contact me etc. Yes, I will check it out myself the first chance I get.
What I want to know is if anyone has been offered money to view properties, and if anyone has been to see these projects above Parrita. And if so, how did it turn out. I think it was a simple enough question. There are not many up there as I understand it.Pierre,
I am a real estate agent here in Atenas, we could really use some condos here, but at this time, they simply do not exist. We have a nice expat community here and a rental with pool can be had but not a condo.
There are lots of condos in Santa Ana, Escazu and Heredia. All have nice climates (though not as nice as Atenas!!)Thanks, good to know. We have not used his services in a while but I know we will need him again soon.
I just checked with Charles and he has split with ABC, I have his new contact info if anyone is interested. He says he is still working with the same traffic and import people.
Edited on Aug 10, 2006 18:21
Hi everyone,
Just for future reference, I am a realtor who specializes in “transitions” for folks wanting to move to Costa Rica.
In the last 2 years 5 of our clients and friends have used Charles Zeller at ABC Mundanzas and each time their goods have arrived in good shape, in good time and in the cost he has quoted them. One client used the Limon Agency, his things arrived in bad shape (a LOT of it missing) and though the original quote was half what Charles had quoted, he ended up paying almost exactly the amount Charles Zeller quoted him before it was over. I wont even go into the way the goods were finally delivered, you wouldn’t believe me.
Another client recently used Areocasillas (sp?) to deliver about a dozen boxes, the price seemed very high and we went with our client to “Aduanas” to pick up the boxes (you would not believe the red tape we encountered there!). All the boxes marked clothing and shoes etc were in perfect condition, the ones marked “FRAGILE” were unrecognizable and many things were broken.
Moral of the story:Check with someone who has used the services of the company you plan to use. I think there is plenty of info out there.
