Built on Panama Land Owned by Gaby Carrizo is a Roping Track in Penonomé.
Pictured below is Gaby Carrizo’s lasso course in Penonomé. The properties that the Comptroller General of the Republic has seized were bought for $1,500 and today have stables, a riding arena and a roping track.
After the courts released the Carrizo-Spiegel family’s apartment – valued at nearly $1.5 million – located in the luxurious PH Marea building in Costa del Este, the Comptroller General of the Republic still holds three properties in the township of El Coco, district of Penonomé , province of Coclé, belonging to former Vice President José Gabriel “Gaby” Carrizo. The measure, according to the official seizure order, is due to “precautionary measures to safeguard public interests against José Gabriel Carrizo Jaén”, after the National Directorate of Investigations and Forensic Auditing of the Comptroller General detected irregularities that point to “the possible unjustified enrichment…”, for an amount of $1.3 million.
The three properties—totaling just under 3 hectares—were acquired in 2009, before Carrizo was Vice President of the Republic. Each lot—despite its varying size—was purchased for $500, for a total of $1,500, according to the Public Registry. Furthermore, the records registered with this institution reveal that the properties had no movement –at least on paper– from the time they were purchased until they were seized by the Comptroller’s Office –in October 2025– due to its investigations into Carrizo’s assets. However, there were improvements, as can be seen in the images obtained from a drone shortly before the lots received continuous surveillance by agents of the National Police, who have been making motorized rounds in the surroundings of the place for some weeks.
2009
Year in which Carrizo acquired the properties in El Coco.
$500
Value of each property, according to the Public Registry.
3 Hectares.
It is the approximate area of the 3 properties together.
A private roping arena, complete with nighttime lighting, was built on these properties. The land has also been divided into plots for grazing horses, which feed on the farm’s own forage or on fodder brought in for them. The estates also have a riding arena – similar to the one the former vice president has at his luxurious residence in Llano Marín, on the outskirts of Penonomé – for training and riding horses. In other words, it has two riding arenas, as well as forage storage facilities, stables, and even facilities for the staff who work on the farm, including a small house. The farms have various animals on their different plots and are cared for by workers who currently work there. The property has a small pedestrian bridge and has been landscaped with gardens that beautify the grounds and also include animal pens.
Satellite images obtained from Google Earth reveal that the Carrizo farms had no improvements until 2020, but that changed, since in 2023, the images show the works very advanced, even finished, such as the rope track, the storage facilities and stables, the riding arena and facilities for the farmhands. According to several sources consulted, the maintenance of the place is expensive, not only because of the facilities built inside, but also because of the training of the horses, their veterinary care, the foliage that the animals eat and the continuous maintenance of the gardens, plots, pasture and facilities. News media have sent Carrizo a questionnaire to get his version of the investments made in these lands and the legal status of these properties, but he did not respond.
1
On October 22, 2025, the Comptroller’s Office ordered the seizure of properties, bank accounts and vehicles belonging to José G. Carrizo, for a total of up to $1.3 million, amid an administrative investigation for alleged enrichment.
2
Carrizo was apprehended on January 27, 2026, at Tocumen Airport, when he arrived on a flight from Guatemala.
3
On January 28, 2026, Judge Oris Medina charged him with alleged unjustified enrichment and ordered his house arrest.
4
The arraignment hearing will be on October 13.
The Comptroller’s seizure order against assets in the name of the former vice president also includes, in addition to these properties, eight bank accounts located in the National Bank of Panama, Banco General, Multibank and Banco Prival. The Comptroller’s Office resolution ordering the seizure of the former vice president’s assets has been challenged by Carrizo’s defense team through a constitutional appeal before the Supreme Court.
The presiding judge in this case—which has not yet reached a decision—is María Eugenia López Arias pictured above. The indictment hearing for the former vice president – currently under house arrest – will be on October 13. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has said that, if found responsible for the alleged crimes – unjustified enrichment – the sentence could reach up to 24 years in prison.
