Bananama Republic

La Prensa runs to Uruguayan dictatorship friends in imaginary siege panic

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:21:51 +0000

Press freedom debate, Panama style: Ricardo Martinelli sends a stupid tweet, La Prensa and Latino-fascist friends respond as if he has announced a nuclear missile test.

Mossack Fonseca and the Dubai connection

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:02:39 +0000

The Mossack Fonseca & Co Dubai office was instrumental in the 2003 attempt to launder tens of millions of stolen money, lending credibility to allegations that the firm may have laundered Libyan funds looted by Gaddafi.

Slovenian TV picks up on Monte Friesner’s fake diplomatic passport scam

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:37:22 +0000

Journalist Okke Ornstein featured on Slovenian TV in expose about rogue businessman who flaunts fake Panamanian diplomatic passport obtained from Monte Friesner's Core Diplomatique foundation.

Is the White Tower washing black money?

Okke Ornstein — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:31:39 +0000

This project has had 15 % normal sales completed since its inception in 2006/2007. The rest represents bulk deals with people associated with Merchbanc in Spain and four lawfirms in Panama creating anonymous holding vehicles for unknown owners. The project remains over 50 % unsold. It is hard to reach any conclusion but that substantial amount of money laundering is taking place.

Trump Ocean Club files for Chapter 11

Okke Ornstein — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:29:48 +0000

Don't say we didn't warn you. Newland Properties, the developer of the embattled Trump Ocean Club in Panama - the most intensely hyped real estate project in the history of the country - is filing for Chapter 11 - and that is just one step from bankruptcy.

Panama invites artist, then deports him upon arrival

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:50:25 +0000

An art biennial is organized by rabiblanco troglodytes and of course things go terribly wrong, as a well know Chilean artist is refused entry to Panama by immigration and the festival organizers are nowhere to be found.

Playa Community Hawaiian shirt brigadiers “take a stand against safety”

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:33:07 +0000

You know, dear reader, the only thieves we see here are these fake "law enforcement experts", these complete frauds, these sufferers from some paranoid mental disorder, who try to rob you from your peace of mind, your peaceful co-existence with your local neighbors and your general sense of safety, so you'll buy into their racist power games. UPDATED.

Online prepaid sex chicks hunter wishes us in jail

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 02:18:30 +0000

Some online whore shopper called Carlos Ariel Herrera wants to visit us in jail, but we have no clue who he is.

Volcan gun nut William Lipton’s history of arms trafficking in Costa Rica

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:24:15 +0000

William Lipton, the gun nut who organizes Town Hall shooting practices to kill intruders in Volcan, has a history of arms trafficking in Costa Rica, Bananama Republic can reveal.

Great Metrobus showdown

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 03:10:35 +0000

The authorities say, "you can't". The transportistas say, "oh yes we can". And so we'll have an epic battle between the Metrobuses and the Diablos Rojos, back on the streets.

Full Cyber Jacket – Or how attempts to disappear us from the web failed

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 03:25:40 +0000

News from the cyber war front: A concerted attempt by a group of criminals in Panama to have Bananama Republic disappeared from the web and Google search results has failed, and actually backfired. UPDATED

So what does Omar Wong Wood want?

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:36:26 +0000

After years of silence, journo-mercenary Omar Wong Wood comes out of the woodwork to send your reporter weird and hallucinating messages about how much he wants to meet.

Giselle Burillo: I have sinned!

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:37:34 +0000

Giselle Burillo won't win anything, but her Michelle Bachman-like antics are too funny to ignore her.

Intrigue: Murderer lurks among Volcan Highlanders

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:24:05 +0000

Now that Don Winner has majestically failed to solve the case, the Volcan Highlander redneck brigades are going to "eliminate" the murderer in their midst, if they can find him or her, they announced - UPDATED.

Ngobe give government till Friday to suspend construction of Barro Blanco dam

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:48:56 +0000

The Ngobe have given the government an ultimatum: Suspend construction of Barro Blanco by Friday or face massive protests. "This battle will be decided in the streets, not at the negotiating table".

Don Winner groupie tries to infiltrate Democrats Abroad Panama

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:24:23 +0000

Bananama Republic announces US style campaign against candidate Susan Guberman if she doesn't distance herself officially in a speech from Don Winner's right-wing antics.

American gun nut teaches Volcan gringos to shoot “intruders”

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:11:53 +0000

William Lipton, once arrested for w̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ flashing a gun on school property, is now training racist gringo wackjobs in Volcan how to shoot people.

The Volcan Highlanders are coming!

Okke Ornstein — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:53:34 +0000

After militias on the Pacific coast, we now have jihad in Volcan, the rise of the Highlander Brigades, gun control under the volcano. Where does it all end?

Everybody dump money now in Don Winner arms trafficker friends Amador scheme

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 23:39:24 +0000

Thanks to unlicensed amateur real estate broker Don Winner, you can now buy into a project developed by arms traffickers that has been shut down years ago, and will never be finished! The opportunity of a lifetime!

New Gilbert Straub company in wake of COACECSS scandal

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:38:43 +0000

COACECSS hasn't even been dismantled yet, but Gilbert Starub & Co are already on it with a new company, Sentinel Capital Services, selling yet more shadowy offshore certificates of deposit.

After Pronto Cash debacle, Monte Friesner revives Carlyle-Coutts scheme

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:02:09 +0000

Now that Pronto Cash has been shut down by authorities and MasterCard, scam couple Monte Friesner and Tatiana Nazarova have relaunched another scheme, the Carlyle Coutts Capital Corporation SA.

COACECSS liquidation result of dirty campaign, directors say

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 05:24:51 +0000

The liquidation of COACECSS is not the result of their shoddy management and ties with financial criminals, but of a vicious yet unspecified campaign, the directors claim.

Murder by death squad of Ngobe protester sets the tone for coming Battle of Barro Blanco

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 03:41:36 +0000

The investment of the Dutch FMO and German DEG banks in the controversial Barro Blanco dam is now being protected by death squads murdering people.

Don Winner dreams about a life under threat

Okke Ornstein — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:16:56 +0000

Imaginary "death threat" forces Don Wanker to hunker down while embassies and police leave him alone to deal with his fantasy life under siege.

Toxic smoke in Panama banking district

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 16:57:17 +0000

The gringos are coming to put out the fire on Cerro Patacon, but toxic smoke still hovers over the COACECSS toxic assets in the banking district. - UPDATED

Top Gear supercar fraud headed by Australian scam priest

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 06:56:39 +0000

The Top Gear/Super Replica swindle turns out to be headed by Daniel John Seppings a/k/a "Tony Sinclair", a religious wingnut with a checkered past. UPDATED!

Panama supercar fraud banks on Top Gear brand

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 04:51:04 +0000

Bananama Republic sets out to purchase a fake Bentley staff car, a replica made by a fake Panamanian outfit with fake workshops and fake directors. (UPDATED)

Ngobe fed up with ongoing construction of Barro Blanco

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:16:26 +0000

The Martinelli administration is using the San Lorenzo agreement as a shield to finish construction of Barro Blanco asap. However, your Bananama Republic attended various meetings in the comarca over the last days, and it became very clear that a vast majority of the population is willing to take to the streets again to stop the Barro Blanco dam from being built.

Martinelli’s great Metrobus fiasco

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:17:30 +0000

One of the few good ideas, we thought, that our beloved president Ricardo Martinelli had was to modernize public transport in the city. Not too long after he took office, the first metrobuses began to appear. Everything seemed to go well, so of course they then had to screw it up completely.

Murder case leaves Don Winner confused

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:18:51 +0000

(Updated) - That's how well-informed Don Winner really is, with his inside sources and additional information and secret knowledge bullshit. One day it's a stab wound and don't you dare question his supreme knowledge, and the next it is in fact a strangle wound and of course he is always right.

Okke Ornstein’s exciting life as a “fugitive”

Okke Ornstein — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:54:35 +0000

Contrary to what some sociopaths put on their websites, Okke Ornstein is neither on the run nor in jail - and that won't change anytime soon.

Where were you when Hugo Chavez died?

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:04:08 +0000

"El arte de vencer se aprende en las derrotas" - Simon Bolivar.

Taboga turns into giant garbage dump

Okke Ornstein — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 17:56:22 +0000

The once picturesque island of Taboga is awash in garbage, has not enough water, and more and more people get sick because of it. Commercial interests continue to attract more trash, while the authorities are either asleep or making some bucks on the side.

Gringo militias buy supplies and guidance from Nazi lunatic

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 05:16:33 +0000

The Don Winner clan sells stun guns and fake legal advice to pot-bellied Hawaiian shirt brigades that seek to protect their lawnmowers from the cholos.

Panama’s rickety networks

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:10:25 +0000

The University's matriculation system keeps crashing, HSBC was hacked, power and water down throughout the country - Panama suffers from bad systems and networks.

Former gringo cop starts militia on Panama’s Pacific coast

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 02:39:46 +0000

Updated - In order to fight the crime wave, gringo expats plan to form militia together with leader of the crime wave. No, we don't understand it either.

Coronado and San Carlos crime wave to affect tourism and real estate, but not wacky developers

Okke Ornstein — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 08:10:37 +0000

In case you didn't know: The Pacific coast of Panama, from Chame to, say, San Carlos and Playa Blanca, is going through a crime wave. Last Friday night, we understood from Eric Jackson, armed men invaded restaurant Rancho Los Toros, robbed about a dozen people and stabbed at least one other.

Cheap narco-torture airline to serve Rio Hato

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:55:19 +0000

Panama's tourism industry expects another boom as travelers will be able to reach their holiday destination on budget torture-flights with just a bit of dope sprinkled on for good measure.

Carnival of the corrupt

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:56:32 +0000

Carnival can be a lot of fun, but if you're the corrupt emperor or one of his affiliated empresaurios, it's more than anything else an opportunity.

It’s our fifth birthday!

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:20:57 +0000

Bananama Republic celebrates its fifth birthday, looks back and, more importantly, lets you know what to give us!

Fraud artist with many names, Homer W. Forster, changes name again

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:56:02 +0000

For many of our readers this may be a bit too long ago to remember, but once upon a time, around 2003, out of the Tom McMurrain scandal and his San Cristobal noni scam came the next adventure, our investigation into fugitive fraud artist Homer W. Forster.

So who called Monte Friesner’s wife a “whore”?

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 05:44:17 +0000

UPDATED - Reading the supposed court decision in the criminal case Monte Friesner started against yours truly, one might be fooled into believing that this journalist called Friesner's wife, the Russian Tatiana Nazarova, a "whore". However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Mark Boswell loses court case in Costa Rica

Okke Ornstein — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:46:48 +0000

Financial hustler and gambling cheat Mark Boswell loses court case from one of the many people who want their money back.

Guillermo Cochez replaced at OAS with scam promoter Arturo Vallarino

Okke Ornstein — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:39:11 +0000

In a move aimed at continuity after sacking narco Willy Cochez, Panama appoints Arturo Vallarino as its new ambassador to the OAS - a scam pimp who used to promote investment fraud and private militias.

An offer in the Don Winner Panama Guide holiday swap

Okke Ornstein — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 05:35:22 +0000

Forget all the past animosity. We're going to help our buddy Don Winner out with his carnival holiday cheap rental needs!

After German servage.net jackbooted us, it’s hello again from Iceland!

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 18:53:29 +0000

Bananama Republic, Okke Ornstein's Panama blog, reappears within just days in Iceland after being shut down in Germany because of a fake Panamanian court order sent out by career criminal Monte Friesner.

Martinelli sacks Cochez

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 04:42:30 +0000

He did it, says Cochez, all in the name of Democracy. He has now sacrificed himself for that great ideal, because Venezuela is, as we all know, a brutal dictatorship with no free elections where the evil Chavez persecutes the media in which he, Guillermo Cochez, freely publishes his rantings. A hero has fallen in the battle for a better world.

Panama is open for business: First FTA dispute relates typical Panamanian horror story

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 06:22:57 +0000

Official ombudswoman Patria Portugal tells US investors that Panama does not honor its obligations under treaties and international law.

Is Petaquilla playing the corporate shell game to dodge its creditors?

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 03:29:15 +0000

Petaquilla gets sued and makes senseless contradictory statements about who owns and contracted what and who and where, while we hear more and more stories about bouncing cheques.

Barro Blanco petition almost at target signatures

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 02:56:17 +0000

Online petition to stop construction of Barro Blanco dam has almost its desired 28,000 signatures.

Panama’s narco-ambassador p0wned by Venezuela

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:54:45 +0000

Panama's narco-ambassador is called a "yokel" by Venezuela, for his wacko right-wing fantasies about the health of Hugo Chavez.

Balbina next old hag of Panama politics to flirt with dead leader

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 05:19:07 +0000

First Mireya's death porn with Fufo and now Balbina with Omar: What is it with the old hags of Panamanian politics that makes them flirt with the rotting corpses of yesterday's rulers?

Failed wannabe OAS Secretary-General and narcopolitico Willy Cochez thinks he knows about Hugo Chavez

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 06:20:22 +0000

Once, Guillermo Cochez hoped to be heading the OAS. Now he's reduced to spouting bile about Hugo Chavez.

Martinelli wants his money back

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:16:05 +0000

Martinelli concentrates on getting his money back in widening scandal, after not so secret meeting of Shamah with chief of Financial Pacific.

Barro Blanco: After being caught lying, authorities and Genisa declare case closed

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 23:38:58 +0000

Protests today against Barro Blanco, the controversial hydroelectric dam of which Martinelli is a shareholder.

Sustainable Capital Group: Patrick Visser confirms arrest of Maurice Sjerps

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:33:52 +0000

Of course you could wait for it: Patrick Visser of the Sustainable Capital Group (formerly Silva Tree) had to write something on his blog on how he is "moving into 2013".

Fake graphic designer Imel Bryan threatens to sue Rob Rivera dead

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:11:45 +0000

Imel Bryan, a fake graphic designer who tried to make a living selling other people's artwork, threatens legal action against Rob Rivera of PortoDiao.

La Estrella runs propaganda piece for Sustainable Capital Group and arrested principal

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 03:08:48 +0000

La Estrella advertises a Panamanian first: Sustainable business run from a Costa Rican jail by arrested teak swindler Maurice Sjerps!

Key figure in FP/Petaquilla scandal disappears, oppa Don Martino style

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 02:35:59 +0000

Don Rico Martinelli, a missing auditor and a scam pimp all tied together in a Petaquilla goldmine stock swindle.

Petaquilla issues nonsense statement about Martinelli

Okke Ornstein — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:13:02 +0000

The statement by Petaquilla whitewashing Martinelli is so incredibly transparent that it is practically an admission of guilt. It reeks of the kind of stupidity that might find its origin with Camacho Castro, or Chello Galvez, or even il capo himself. It is that dumb.

Panama is open for business: Now with insider trading and stock manipulation!

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 07:37:09 +0000

The shenanigans of our beloved president Ricardo Martinelli, in his indefatigable drive to promote Panama as a business heaven for financial shysters, have produced accomplishments not seen since Noriega.

Maurice Sjerps of Silva Tree fame arrested in Costa Rica

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 03:37:08 +0000

Maurice Sjerps, accomplice of Patrick Visser in the Silva Tree/Sustainable Capital Group swindle, has been arrested in Costa Rica for yet another teak scam.

Martinelli amateurism causes chaos and violence

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 19:38:45 +0000

As much as Martinelli is the product of the internal rot of Panama's entrepreneurial and political class, the violence and shoplifting are the result of decades of ignoring Colon, of ignoring the fact that Panama has one of the highest differences between rich and poor in the hemisphere, of allowing massive corruption and exploitation.

Martinelli unites China and Taiwan, Italians pull the net tighter

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 03:33:33 +0000

Martinelli bungles his way through Asia while Panama burns and Italian prosecutors are closing in on him.

Colon Free Zone protests turn into broad anti-Martinelli movement

Okke Ornstein — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:23:21 +0000

What we're seeing is protest that goes beyond coercing the government into dropping its CFZ sales plans. It's no longer against one piece of misguided policy; it is against Martinelli himself, his accomplices, against the constant abuses, the broken promises, the violence, the unprecedented mega-corruption and the fact that the highest economic growth in Latin America has not done anything to close the gap between rich and poor.

Ngobe ask banks to stop financing Barro Blanco dam, prevent more bloodshed

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 21:08:48 +0000

With als,o, the capers of Genisa's Wilfredo Arias during the UNDP field verification mission in the Ngobe comarca. Spanish audio from Okke Ornstein radio documentary.

Police does its usual kid-killing routine in Colon riots over Martinelli land scheme

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:52:12 +0000

Panama's heroic national police kills 9 year old to shut up protests against Martinelli's land sales to finance corrupt schemes.

The fiscalia 8 sucks ass

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:18:19 +0000

Latest wacky trial for honor crimes reveals that Panama's prosecutors don't know how to investigate and are even ignorant of their own cases.

Updated – Patrick Visser et al request this website to be sequestered during trial

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 01:47:03 +0000

Patrick Visser et al have fraud artist Monte Friesner as their new best friend, and ask the judge to seize Bananama Republic in rambling court performance!

Has Richard Fifer left the country?

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 22:02:37 +0000

Legal trouble has once again been mounting for Richard Fifer, the former drug trafficker behind the Petaquilla gold mine, and we're told he moved to Spain where he runs new sleazy schemes.

ProntoLeaks: How Herbert Young and Jose Blandon sold Monte Friesner a law

Okke Ornstein — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 03:19:57 +0000

Evidence shows that a credit card law was drafted, submitted and passed by Jose Blandon and Herbert Young, under supervision and paid for by Monte Friesner of Pronto Cash.

ProntoLeaks: Monte Friesner and sex trafficking

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:54:15 +0000

One of Friesner's shady activities, as revealed in his own emails and documents, is that he and his wife Tatiana are "importing" sex workers from Colombia, Eastern Europe and Russia.

ProntoLeaks: Friesner wanted to sell Panama Sailing School

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:21:33 +0000

Already in 2009, Monte Friesner was so "fed up and tired of all of this bullshit" with the Panama Sailing School that he announced he was going to sell it.

Panama nowhere to be found in QS University rankings

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:24:10 +0000

Thanks to corruption and a self aggrandizing megalomaniac for rector, the University of Panama doesn't really count, anywhere.

ProntoLeaks: Birds of a feather to the rescue of Friesner (1)

Okke Ornstein — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 01:16:33 +0000

You'd think that people who value any kind of reputation would stay away from sleazy con men like Monte Friesner. But nothing could be further from the truth because, believe it or not, there are plenty fellow expatriates who stand by their favorite fraudster no matter what.

Source: Patrick Visser’s boiler room schemes

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 06:35:00 +0000

A former employee spills the beans about boiler room practices, how Visser et al funneled investors money into their pockets and leaving them with nothing, while jetting all over the world themselves on "business trips".

Voodoo psycho babble with Geraldine Emiliani

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 05:59:10 +0000

Once, in another life and on another website, we wrote already about Gerladine Emiliani, Panama's most prominent and most retarded psychologist. The reason, if we remember correctly, was that she said that sexual education in schools could, among girls, lead to diseases such as lesbianism.

We’re going to court! Well, maybe…

Okke Ornstein — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 02:19:05 +0000

Finally the authorities have figured out that 1 plus 1 is 2, and that if they contact your editor for one thing at his residence they could probably contact him there for something else as well.

ProntoLeaks: How the Panama Sailing School came to an end

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:32:38 +0000

Pronto Cash, closed down by the authorities and Mastercard, is not the only fraud Monte Friesner is running in Panama. The Panama Sailing School, which lists Mr. Friesner as its "Commodore", is a scam too, Bananama Republic has learned.

Massive document leak Pronto Cash

Okke Ornstein — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 13:40:00 +0000

We were in the middle of a server move and overhaul and kaboom! We got a big package. Documents, emails, pictures, all kinds of stuff, directly from the Monte Friesner Pronto Cash lair. And its contents are SENSATIONAL!