Panama notaries and land transfer scams

Both the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) and the Public Registry consider that Panama notaries have weaknesses, used by criminal organizations to carry out scams in the transfer of properties or farms.

The primary care prosecutor of the Public Ministry, Francisco Marcos-Hermoso, told La Prensa that the fraud in the transfer of farms occurs because the notaries do not have a technological structure to detect those who request notarial services to certify false documents, making it easier to commit scams to strip the legitimate owners of their properties.

The director of the Public Registry, Erasmo Muñoz, agreed with the prosecutor on the vulnerability of  notaries, but noted that this also affects the institution that he directs, in which they  detect cases of falsehood in inscription of properties.

However, although the president of the Colegio de Notarios de Panamá, Cecilio Moreno, denies what happens in notaries,  he notes that in many cases notaries and their employees are surprised in their good faith by the scammers reports La Prensa.