Claimants' Memorial on the Merits and Damages
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INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ICSID Case No. ARB/19/6 SETTLEMENT OF INVESTMENT DISPUTES BETWEEN ANGEL SAMUEL SEDA, JTE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTS, LLC, JONATHAN MICHAEL FOLEY, STEPHEN JOHN BOBECK, BRIAN HASS, MONTE GLENN ADCOCK, JUSTIN TIMOTHY ENBODY, JUSTIN TATE CARUSO AND THE BOSTON ENTERPRISES TRUST Claimants and THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA Respondent CLAIMANTS’ MEMORIAL ON THE MERITS AND DAMAGES 15 June 2020 GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166 United States of America TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 II. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 4 III. Facts ..................................................................................................................................... 11 A. Claimants’ Initial Investments In Colombia ............................................................... 12 1. Colombia Presented An Attractive Hospitality And Real Estate Development Opportunity ................................................................................. 12 2. Claimants Invest In Colombia ........................................................................... 15 3. Mr. Seda Develops The Charlee Hotel .............................................................. 17 4. Early Success With The Charlee Brand ............................................................. 28 B. Claimants Invest In The Meritage Project .................................................................. 31 1. Locating Property For The Meritage Project ..................................................... 31 2. Corficolombiana Conducts Extensive Due Diligence On Meritage Property .............................................................................................................. 35 3. Corficolombiana Conducts Additional Diligence And The Attorney General’s Office Confirms In Writing That The Property And Its Owners Were Not Under Investigation .............................................................. 39 4. Claimants Make Investments In Meritage Through Newport ........................... 42 5. Corficolombiana And Newport Enter Trust Agreements To Manage Meritage’s Development .................................................................................... 45 6. Newport Commences Development Of The Meritage Project .......................... 48 7. Iván López Vanegas Attempts To Extort Mr. Seda ........................................... 50 8. Meritage Project Begins Construction of Phases 1 and 6 .................................. 51 9. Mr. López Vanegas Submits A False Complaint To The Attorney General’s Office ................................................................................................. 56 C. Further Expansion Of Real Estate Projects In Colombia............................................ 60 D. Mr. López Vanegas Resurfaces With Extortion Demands ......................................... 67 i 1. Mr. López Vanegas Renews Extortion Attempts .............................................. 67 2. Mr. López Vanegas Files A Tutela .................................................................... 69 3. Mr. López Vanegas Threatens Mr. Seda With Asset Forfeiture Against Meritage ............................................................................................................. 73 4. Consistent With Mr. López Vanegas’s Threats, The Attorney General’s Office Seizes Meritage ....................................................................................... 75 E. Colombia Wrongfully Pursues Asset Forfeiture Proceedings Against Meritage ....... 79 1. Asset Forfeiture Under Colombian Law ............................................................ 79 Grounds For Asset Forfeiture ................................................................... 79 Rights And Guarantees Under The Asset Forfeiture Law ........................ 80 Asset Forfeiture Process Under The Asset Forfeiture Law ...................... 85 2. The Attorney General’s Office Wrongfully And Unjustifiably Imposed Precautionary Measures On The Meritage Project ............................................ 88 3. The Precautionary Measures Halt Development Of The Meritage Project ....... 98 4. The Attorney General’s Office Refuses To Release The Precautionary Measures Resolution .......................................................................................... 99 5. Corficolombiana Defends The Project Against Asset Forfeiture .................... 101 6. Mr. Seda Reaches Out To The U.S. Embassy ................................................. 107 7. Newport Challenges The Precautionary Measures .......................................... 111 F. Colombia Presses Ahead with Asset Forfeiture Proceedings in Violation of Newport’s Procedural Rights .................................................................................... 115 1. The Attorney General’s Office Institutes Asset Forfeiture Proceedings ......... 115 2. Newport Files A Tutela Action ........................................................................ 124 3. The Court Orders The Attorney General’s Office To Respond To Newport’s Multiple Petitions ........................................................................... 125 4. Attorney General’s Office Files Formal Asset Forfeiture Request ................. 128 5. The Court Refused To Allow Newport To Defend Itself In The Proceedings ...................................................................................................... 133 ii 6. Asset Forfeiture Proceedings Against Meritage Continue............................... 142 G. Claimants Notify Colombia of Dispute .................................................................... 145 H. Colombia Attempts Early Sale Of The Property ...................................................... 145 I. Colombia Fails To Act On Significant Evidence Of Corruption In The Money Laundering And Asset Forfeiture Units, And Specifically Regarding The Meritage Case And Officials Involved In It ............................................................. 147 J. Colombia’s Wrongful Acts Have Harmed Claimants’ Investments ......................... 157 1. The Meritage Project Is No Longer Viable...................................................... 158 2. Mr. Seda’s Project Pipeline Has Lost Substantial Value ................................. 159 3. Mr. Seda Continues To Be Harassed And Threatened .................................... 164 K. The Attorney General’s Office Does Not Appear to Have Taken Any Action Against Mr. López Vanegas’s Other Properties—Including Part of the Same Lot From Which the Meritage Lot Was Carved ....................................................... 166 IV. The Tribunal Has Jurisdiction To Decide The Dispute ..................................................... 173 A. The Requirements Of The TPA Have Been Met ...................................................... 173 1. Claimants Are Protected Investors That Have Made An Investment Under The TPA ................................................................................................ 173 Claimants Are Protected Investors.......................................................... 173 Claimants Have Made An Investment For The Purposes Of The TPA ......................................................................................................... 175 2. The Parties Have Provided Their Written Consent To ICSID’s Jurisdiction ....................................................................................................... 176 3. All Remaining Requirements Of The TPA Have Been Met............................ 177 B. The Requirements Of Article 25 Of The ICSID Convention Have Been Met ......... 181 C. The Applicable Law Of This Dispute Is The TPA And Applicable Rules of International Law ...................................................................................................... 183 V. Colombia Has Breached Fundamental Obligations Under the TPA ................................. 184 A. Colombia Unlawfully Expropriated Claimants’ Investment .................................... 184 1. The Expropriation Standard ............................................................................. 185 iii 2. Colombia Expropriated Claimants’ Investment In The Meritage Project ....... 189 3. Colombia’s Expropriation Was Unlawful ....................................................... 194 Colombia Has Failed To Pay Prompt, Adequate, And Effective Compensation ......................................................................................... 195 Colombia Did Not Expropriate In Accordance With Due Process of Law ..................................................................................................... 195 Colombia’s Expropriation Was Discriminatory ..................................... 203 Colombia Did Not Expropriate For A Public Purpose ........................... 205 B. Colombia Has Failed To Treat Claimant’s Investment Fairly and Equitably .......... 208 1. The FET Standard ............................................................................................ 209 The FET Standard Protects An Investor From Unreasonable, Discriminatory And Arbitrary Treatment ............................................... 212 The FET Standard Requires A State To Act Transparently And With Due Process ...................................................................................