The conflict between the former partners of Town Center Costa del Este, which for years has been disputed in arbitration and courts, will now come before a judge of guarantees.
Sources from the Attorney General’s Office confirmed to La Estrella de Panamá that the Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office will request to file charges against businessman Hermán Bern Pittí and his children José Manuel, Jacqueline and Ingrid Bern Barbero, for the alleged commission of the crimes of fraud and aggravated theft to the detriment of Costa del Este Town Center Group, SA
The hearing was scheduled for next October 2. In that same act, the Public Ministry will request the application of personal precautionary measures against the four investigated.
The hearing on October 2 was not designed, in principle, to bring together the entire Bern family. The original call covered only José Manuel Bern. But on September 7, the Prosecutor’s Office asked to expand the scope of the act and also include his father, Hermán Bern Pittí, and his sisters Jacqueline and Ingrid Bern, with the argument of concentrating the proceedings in a single hearing for reasons of “procedural economy.”
It will not be the first attempt to bring the file before a judge. José Manuel Bern was supposed to appear on July 10, but that hearing was postponed after he requested its rescheduling because he was out of the country.
The action of the Public Ministry thus opens a criminal avenue within a business relationship broken for years and crossed by a succession of controversies surrounding the construction, administration and marketing of Town Center Costa del Este.
Companies linked to Grupo Empresas Bern participated together with their current counterparts in the development of the complex. The group maintains a 25% stake in Costa del Este Town Center Group and, between 2013 and 2018, exercised extensive control over the construction, administration and marketing of the project.
Costa del Este Town Center Group SA was left in the hands of two companies: Inversiones Panamá Viejo, SA and Townshare, SA, represented by Raimundo Casimiro López Arango and Alberto Motta Page, respectively. For years, however, the Bern family also held relevant positions within the company structure. José Manuel Bern presided over the company until July 3, 2023, while Jacqueline Bern remains linked to its board of directors, according to current public registry data.
In 2022, after a conciliation process failed, the parties took their claims to the Panama Conciliation and Arbitration Center (CeCAP). Both Grupo Empresas Bern and Costa del Este Town Center Group presented claims within the arbitration process, according to local media reports.
On May 24, 2024, an arbitration tribunal composed of Adán Arnulfo Arjona, Narciso Arellano Moreno and Jaime Mora resolved the dispute. The decision imposed on companies of Grupo Empresas Bern the payment of tens of millions of dollars for damages, costs and non-compliance related to the construction and administration of the shopping center. After the corrections discussed by the parties, different publications placed the amount at around $77.8 million.
Empresas Bern publicly rejected that decision. He alleged that the award violated his rights and announced that he would appeal to the judicial authorities to seek its annulment. The dispute later ended before the Fourth General Business Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.
The dispute also continued to escalate through judicial means. Costa del Este Town Center Group, Inversiones Panamá Viejo and Townshare took an executive proceeding against Mercadoo y Comunicación Integral, SA to court; TC Development, Inc.; Constructora Tece, SA; and Luzeo Corporation, SA, four companies linked to the Bern Companies Group. The file now remains pending in the Second Circuit Bankruptcy Court of the First Judicial District.
The criminal investigation that will come before a judge on October 2 is, however, a different process from those civil, commercial and arbitration controversies.
During the hearing, it will be up to the Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office to present the facts and elements that, in its opinion, justify the formal involvement of Hermán Bern Pittí and his three children in the investigation. It will be the guarantee judge who determines whether to admit the request for indictment and, subsequently, resolves the precautionary measures required by the Public Ministry.
The Star of Panama He contacted one of the members of the Bern family to find out his version of the Prosecutor’s Office’s actions. They indicated that, for the moment, neither they nor their legal team will offer statements.
