Scam artists still hitting expats

Friday, 05 June 2009 13:39

Many expats bitterly regret the day they listened to people from their own part of the world, as fraudsters often tend to target people from their own country. Scams can range from land deals to get rich quick schemes, with the inevitable ponzi arrangement featuring as well.

Canadians in Panama have been the target of late. Complaints continue to surface about the activities of former Canadian lawyer Mary Sloane, who according to records of the British Columbia Law Society resigned after being found guilty of misappropriation of clients’ money in 1992.

Expats have seemingly complained about her activities connected with Panama Magazine and her alleged partner Arthur Youngblood Hawk.

An article written by Don Winner in his blog Panama-Guide.com described Hawk as a Canadian expat who has been living in Panama for more than a year, and has allegedly been scamming money from people who thought they were ‘investors.’
He has left a long string of unpaid bills as well as lot of unhappy people, not only in Panama but also in Costa Rica. Apparently there is a current arrest warrant pending against him, and the Panamanian Immigration Authorities have ordered the National Police to arrest Hawk ‘on sight.’

In a number of anonymous emails it is alleged that Mary Sloane and Arthur Youngblood Hawk were the owners of a company Pan World Group SA. This seemingly runs the on-line Panama Magazine, which specialises in tourism, travelling and purchasing property in the country.

Hawk allegedly promises to do something, collects the money, does not follow through, and then simply moves somewhere else. As most of his victims just get ‘stung’ and do not lose their life savings they are less inclined to spend a lot of effort or resources to track him down.

One of his victims said that most of his scams seem to prey on people who are relatively Internet literate.

Meanwhile the case against Mary Kathleen Sloane was transferred to the First Circuit Tribunal in Turn (Juzgado Primero de Circuito en Turno) which deals with fraud crimes, after she was accused of allegedly running a ponzi scheme with foreign currency.

Sloane has maintained her innocence with regards to the Ponzi scheme saying that she is also a victim.

Got views on the above news?

Email your comments to the email address below, each week a selection of comments will be added to the news stories

Send your comment to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Have you say -