Guest article (http://www.laestrella.com.pa/mensual/2009/06/01/contenido/105722.asp) by La Estrella, Panama Stare (www.laestrella.com.pa). 06-01-2009 | MARIJULIA PUJOL LLOYDmpujolstar@laestrella.com.pa
Arthur Hawk and Mary Sloane could be connected
Panama Star PANAMA. Many expats have come to lament the day they have listened to the siren calls of citizens from their own part of the world from land deals to get rich quick schemes and the inevitable ponzi.
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 client’s money in 1992.
In a series of e-mails received by the Panama Star, expats have 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 him as a Canadian expat who has been living in Panama for more than a year has been stealing money from people, scamming money from people who thought they were "investors."
He has left a long string of bills unpaid as well as lot of unhappy people not only in Panama but also in Costa Rica. Apparently there is a current and valid arrest warrant pending against him, and the Panamanian Immigration Authorities have ordered the National Police to arrest Arthur Y. Hawk "on sight."
In the e-mails several of our readers, who want to remain anonymous in case of retaliation, said that Mary Sloane and Arthur Youngblood Hawk were the owners of a company Pan World Group SA which ran the on-line Panama Magazine, that specializes in tourism, traveling, buying properties in the country. A search in the Public Registry revealed that Pan World Group SA and Pel Services SA are Mary Sloane´s companies and Sloane was the managing editor of Panama Magazine, although in an article by Don Winner she claims to be a victim of Hawk.
In the magazine she is also described as one of its publishers and, although no longer a member of the law society, a lawyer.
On the website www.deenalarsen.net, typical of his modus operandi - he promises to do something, collects the money, does not follow through, then move somewhere else and, most of his victims just get "nipped" but have not lost all their life savings, so they are less inclined to spend a lot of effort or resources to chase 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.
The Sloane affair has divided the previously united community of Decameron’s Villas in Penonome, home to many Canadians. Many residents prefer not to make any comments about the case for fear of reprisals.
One source says that Sloane’s home there is up for sale. Sloane has maintained her innocence with regards to the Ponzi scheme saying that she is also a victim. Since first publishing the story of a ponzi scheme gone wrong, The Panama Star has made numerous efforts to get Sloane to tell her side of the story, without success.
