Doin' Costa Rica: The RICH & POWERFUL in Costa Rica LAND SCAM

Friday, April 13, 2012

The RICH & POWERFUL in Costa Rica LAND SCAM

The rich and powerful in Costa Rica scamming legitimate land owners with impunity.
Looks like Costa Rica is shooting itself in the foot again. This video was sent to me from a friend so I'm passing it on.... I don't know if this guys story is true but I know where I would lay my money. At the least, it's interesting and should be considered if you own or would like to own land in Costa Rica. Check it out,,,totally SUCKS and if it's true, goes way UP the ladder.

This VIDEO is about the 14 year struggle of Sheldon Haseltine to get land back from rich squatters, who hide behind "landless peasants" and cynically use the Costa Rica Justice System for their own benefit and profit.

Good LUCK Mr. Haseltine, I fear you're going to need it.

"The real victim is Investment and Tourism in Costa Rica. If these hoggish hypocrites are allowed to get away with threatening me with jail after the Tribunal has ruled in our favor then the law is merely a tool for sanctioning land grabs. If they get away with this, no foreigner and Tico is immune from this kind of voracious swindle. That they hid behind the skirts of a campesino like cowards say it all . It was only by providence that we discovered the real truth behind this squalid swindle." -S. Haseltine

PS. For you Costa Rica bloggers out there- PASS this ON, it's the least we could do.

TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

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Travel to costa rica · 676 weeks ago

Your blog is very nice.The video about Costa Rica is very nice.I really impressed from your blog.

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Caroline · 675 weeks ago

A disgraceful story. Poor Costa Rica to have these dreadful crooks giving such a pretty country such a bad name,

4 replies · active 509 weeks ago

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michael_alan 33p · 675 weeks ago

that pretty much sums it up.

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John Edwards · 672 weeks ago

American developers are also involved in land scams in Costa Rica. They buy farms, advertise them as gated communities, and sell the lots to dumb Gringos like me. I bought a lot three years ago and there are still no deeds issued. There are Tico crooks in Costa Rica, such as in the video, but there are ten times more American crooks in that country.

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judith kent · 606 weeks ago

Yes! Remember Jardines de los Ensuenos en Jaco? Total rip-off by Trevor Chilton, Canadian. Everyone lost everything on preconstruction condos.

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Trevor Chilton · 584 weeks ago

Judith no not a good situation for anyone involved when we got steam rolled by a market that turned against us just 3 months prior to us getting our full 46 unit condo permits. However dear readers her is the rest of this story this woman is a liar who would not know a real rip off if it bit her in the ass. She took me to court personally under charges of fraud. She submitted a sworn affidavit to the court stating the project did not exist however she personally stood with us in our administration building that was under construction. This same fraud had SETENA approvals, SALUD approvals and the full project approvals from the Municipality of Garabito issued Dec. 22, 2008. As we all know the market totally collapsed in Sept. of 2008 after which there was zero customers to buy the units hence the project completely collapsed Feb. of 2009 as did the whole Costa Rica beach market. AS most would know Jaco is still a graveyard of incomplete units numbering in the hundreds. There is one hell of a big difference between a bad situation and a fraud or scam.

Judith I have left you alone only because of your loss after you malicious attack that was based on nothing more than hot air and blatant lies you presented to the court system. This dragged me through the mud for 3 years. I beat this without even hiring a lawyer I might add. Now over two years after this was settled with my exoneration in Nov. 2011. Yet you are stupid enough to make public defamation statements after loosing in the courts. Now I see no reason to feel sorry for your loss and am turning your well recorded offenses over to the authorities and you will find out what it costs when you flap your mouth in public and utter false statements. Let this be a lesson to other readers when you take dirty laundry out in public you best be certain it is true and not a simple a fabrication.

Trevor Chilton

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sheldon haseltine · 673 weeks ago

Thanks for picking this up. Our second trial resulted in our acquittal (as did the first which was nullified on a 'technicality!") We were awarded maximum legal costs and the judge said that Mr. Gonzalez and his lawyer "El Magnifico" acted in mala fe/Bad Faith. Amazingly they themselves introduced the video into our fraud trial to show what a SOB I was. What this had to do with the accusation of criminal fraud remains a mystery! Their appeal is on Monday 7th May. If thde lower court's decision is upheld we will then consider our position re criminal libel charges and possible damages. It's beginning to look as there is indeed law here ...but what a long hassle! Thank you for your support but please remember we are not the only ones to have undergone this white collar epidemic.

1 reply · active 673 weeks ago

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michael alan · 673 weeks ago

No problem,,happy to do it. GOOD LUCK on May 7th (today by the way). Let me know.... I'll try to keep the story OUT there if I can.......

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Daniel Mcdams · 653 weeks ago

KEEP THE STORY FLOWING! FACEBOOK NEEDS TO GO VIRAL ON THIS!! POST IT IN TELENOTICIAS CANAL 7'S FACEBOOK! GOTTS TO KEEP IT MOVING!!! White collar crime has to STOP! At least on this particular case!

1 reply · active 650 weeks ago

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Aheldon Haseltine · 650 weeks ago

We just won our third acquittal with legal costs. The judge (as before) said the opposition acted in bad faith. So now we to the Appeals Court for the third time and hope that no ''Technicalities" pop up. In the meantime they also filed for Criminal Difamacion which is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on November 6, 2013. The statute of limitations for libel is one year so it would seem the case against me has bee kicked into touch. My conviction for Armed Aggression has been vacated and sent back to the lower court for retrial so things are beginning to turn around!

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Aheldon Haseltine · 647 weeks ago

Appeals judge affirms expat's acquittal in land dispute

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff 11/06/2012

An expat who has been facing a forgery allegation has been cleared by an appeals judge.

For the expat, Sheldon Hazeltine, the decision was the third in a series of three hearing and three appeals. Two previous appeals judges remanded the case back for a new hearing.

In a written decision, Verónica Elizondo Murillo, the judge in Puntarenas, said she could find little evidence against Hazeltine or his lawyer, Horacio Mejias Portuguez. Both had been accused.

The allegations were brought by well-known businessman Armando González Fonseca and Martha Sandoval Fernández, a woman who once lived on land that is the subject of a civil dispute.

The forgery allegation was criminal. Gozález and his lawyer, Otto Giovanny Ceciliano Mora, said that the men forged a document that allowed them to represent a company in the civil case.

The decision in the third hearing was handed down Oct. 9. That decision was the third to absolve the two men of the criminal allegation. But the decisions in two previous hearings were overturned on appeal.

Hazeltine has become a poster boy of sorts for expats involved in property disputes. He has been fighting over ownership of land near Los Sueños for nearly two decades.

The appeals judge upheld a money decision against Ms. Sandoval for 15.2 million colons or about $30,600. The judge overturned a money award against González and left the amount for future litigation.

Hazeltine was the man who posted a YouTube video critical of property fraud in Costa Rica. The nine-page decision mostly addressed legal issues that were raised in the appeal.

González had challenged a document that carried the seal of the Costa Rican consul in The Bahamas that related to a Panamá company owned by Hazeltine and his partners in the civil case. That the document was legitimate was established in each of the three trials.

Had the document been voided as being fraudulent, González would have had a strong advantage in the civil case. Hazeltine had contended for a long time that the criminal case was strategic and linked to the civil trial. The judge had the option to move the case forward for a full trial.