42 Waked stores closed

THE LA RIVIERA  chain , owned by Abdul Waked, has announced the closure of 42  of its  102 stores  in Colombia.

The news was carried by  El Tiempo of Bogota, citing the Colmbia attorney of the chsin Riviera, Jaime Granados, who said the decision was due to the early termination of leases of premises by the owners of the properties.

“The other 60 outlets, owned by Riviera, will continue to operate while they can, and employees of  closed stores will be relocated,” said Granados

Currently  the retail chain is only accepting  cash payments in Colombia and Panama.

Other stores of the company located at airports in Guatemala were closed earlier because of alleged involvement in a customs scam that has seen senior politicians jailed. Stores in the duty free section of Panama’s Tocumen International Airport, are reportedly up for sale if a formula can be reached  to remove them from the Clinton list and put the sale money into a Trust fund as with the Felix B Maduro department stores, in a ground breaking arrangement negotiated by the Panama government last week.

In late May, the Colombia’s Business Superintendency ook control of  La Riviera shops in that country. The company has 1,271  employees in Colombia and has  assets valued at approximately $ 130 million and liabilities of $ 45 million.

The company and 67 other companies of  Nidal and Abdul Waked were included by the US  Bureau of Foreign Assets (OFAC), English) of the United States Department of the Treasury in the Clinton List of activities linked to money laundering and drug trafficking.

Nidal Waked in behind bars awaiting extradition to the US to face money laundering charges and a potential 50 years jail term.

In Panama, the US ambassador, John Feeley, said that “for years, Nidal Waked, Abdul Waked and his accomplices abused the financial system of the United States and Panama and jointly led an organization that has washed drug money “.