The Poor Children of Panama May Be Collateral Damage

It is a story of intrigue, money, power and ultimately hungry Panamanian children.

When US tycoon Wilson Charles Lucom died in 2006, he left more than $50 million to the poor children of Panama.

Now, after a four-year legal battle, Panama’s Supreme Court has declared Lucom’s will void and given the entire estate to his widow, Hilda, matriach of Panama’s powerful Arias family dynasty.  Her five children from a previous marriage to Gilberto Arias, a Panamanian politician, are expected to inherit the money after she dies.

“That money could have helped a lot of children. If that family keeps it God will not forgive them,” Hector Avila, an advocate for at-risk children in Panama, told The Guardian. “In this country political and economic forces weigh more than justice.”

In his will, Lucom left their large home along with $240,000 per year to his wife and $50,000 to $200,000 one-time payments to each of his stepchildren.

But, the US tycoon also owned a 7,000-acre ranch along three miles of Panama Pacific beachfront, just one hour outside of Panama City, valued at more than $50 million, which was to be sold and the proceeds donated to a foundation for poor children.

The foundation, headed by Sister Lourdes Reiss from the San Jose de Malambo Orphanage, is formed by six charities: the Asociacion de Aldeas Infantiles S.O.S. de Panama, the Asociacion Nacional Pro Nutricion Infantil, the Asociacion Religiosos Mercedario, the Pro Ninos de Darien Foundation, the San Jose de Malambo Orphanage and the Patronato de la Ciudad del Nino.

A vicious legal battle ensued.

The Arias family contended that the will was a scheme concocted by Richard Lehman, the tycoon’s longtime Florida-based lawyer and trustee of the would-be children’s foundation, to enrich himself.

With the help of prominent lawyer Hector Infante, the family filed 13 criminal charges against Lehman including negligent homicide in Lucom’s death at age 88, forgery and extortion.

The charges were later dropped and Lehman called it a smear campaign, although a Palm Beach court-appointed administrator found irregularities in Lehman’s handling of a Lucom bank account in Florida and criticized Lehman for not revealing to the court that he owed Lucom $500,000 at the time of his death.

Regardless whether Lucom willed his money to the hungry Panamanian children or who should execute his will, if the statistics indicating that a Panamanian child dies from malnutrition every three days are correct, then nearly 500 children would have died since the four-year legal battle began.

The story has been reported by Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Guardian, among others, and Screenwriter David Griffiths, who co-wrote “Collateral Damage” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is writing a screenplay based on Lehman’s experience.

Wilson C. Lucom / PHOTO La Estrella