Back in 2013, I reported on this scam regarding COACECSS or Social Security Employees Savings and Credit Cooperative Fund where a number of foreigners, some of whom preyed on Boquetenos at the Tuesday Market, sold 8.5% CDs and received huge commissions!!

I got really tired of being accused of  bad mouthing an upright institution that was offering 8.5% rate CDs. Come on folks, you have to be really confused to believe that this was anything but an outright scam that filled the pockets of a few principals and of course the salesmen that made over a million dollars in commissions selling this trash.  Forget about your 8.5% return, just try to get your principal back.  It seems that the government tired of seeing no action on the part of COACESS to reconcile their accounts and just shut them down.  This follows in the heels of the Financial Pacific fiasco where over $14 million went missing.  By the way, that money suddenly reappeared so as in most cases here in Panama, nothing wrong happened.

This was a huge scam that caught a lot of people here in Boquete with their pants down.  I constantly said that this firm was a scam and people would loose their money and many were caught up in the scam.

So, now the money has been recovered and repaid.

To date, the COACECSS Liquidation Commission has returned, as contributions, 15.5 million dollars to some 15 thousand associates and only some 50 associates remain to receive 100% of their contributions. It should be noted that the payment will be made to them in the coming weeks.

Edwin Navarro, executive director of COACECSS, highlighted that this action provides a response to these Panamanians, who have been waiting for this payment for eight years.

For his part, the president of the Liquidation Commission, Reynaldo Medina, said that they have worked with transparency and in permanent contact with the associates.

Get Vaccinated and stay safe!!