The Government of Nicaragua has restored this week the properties to eight of the nine affected American investors by the recent confiscation of luxury real estate located on the beaches of Tola, in the southwest of the country, following an order initially executed at the end of August by the authorities.
According to the information disseminated by the Telemundo 51 network, the affected individuals have been informed of the return of their assets —which would have temporarily passed to the assets of the Nicaraguan Institute of Social Security (INSS)— through phone calls, without the delivery of official documents or formal explanation regarding the seizure or return procedure of the properties.
Despite the restitution of eight residential complexes, at least one of the investors continues to not recover their assets, which are estimated to be worth around 50 million dollars (about 45 million euros). This investor reports the loss of a high-end home, a hotel, a farm, and other properties, without the authorities providing reasons for the continuation of the precautionary measure that weighs on their assets.
The affected individual himself recounted to the network that, at the moment his residence was occupied, the people who entered presented themselves as members of the "Government of Nicaragua".
"The people who worked with me warned me, saying that someone from the Government entered there, asked for the keys, and took everyone out," said the American investor, who has spoken anonymously to the network.
At the beginning of October, several journalistic investigations revealed the forcible takeover of these facilities, which were assigned to the INSS and placed under state control within a wave of expropriations that has impacted both retirees and foreign capital in the coastal strip of Nicaragua.
Spokespersons for the affected individuals have warned that this return is being carried out without a solid legal backing, due to the lack of formal resolutions that guarantee the ownership of the assets to their original owners in a stable manner.