Criminal Fraud Complaint with Panama’s Police
One avenue you have is to file a criminal complaint for fraud with the police in Panama if you feel a lawyer cheated you. You can come to Panama and do this in person. Generally a lawyer would not be needed to help with the complaint. Filing a false complaint is a crime. It would be best to bring any proof of transfers of funds or receipts with you along with any documents, corporations, etc that the law firm supplied you. Bring a copy of the receipt of your order, retainer agreement, contract, etc showing what you paid them for. Show what you received and what you did not receive. Be honest and direct. Do not try to conceal anything or flavor it a certain way. Be prepared to explain why you think you were frauded and for how much.
If you paid for a corporation and bank account but only got a corporation you may have a complaint in that you did not get what you paid for. If the law firm cannot assist with the bank account opening in a reasonable amount of time then they should offer a refund. What is a reasonable amount of time? I would say 4 weeks is reasonable for sure, two months is not. It is arguable that without a bank account the corporation is of no value to you and you ordered both as a package. Thus a full refund is justifiable since you never received what you paid for. If you got the corporation and bank account but did not receive the online banking then again you have a claim for a refund since you did not get what you aid for. The bank account is not useable if you are living outside of Panama and do not have online banking. Again a refund can be indicated if the online banking is not opened up in a reasonable period of time. Arguing you received the goods and services in part is not correct. Sort of like getting a car but without the engine. Without the order fulfilled in full it is no good to you. The operative word is useless. There is an argument and a counter argument. If you paid money to be deposited into a bank account which was never opened this is a serious problem if these funds are not returned in a reasonable period of time or placed in your bank account that was opened.
