HOTEL SALE THREATENED!

[Roy S. Carson]

_______________________________________________________________________

November 6, 1996 - VENEZUELA'S ELECTRONIC NEWS - VHeadline No.148
_______________________________________________________________________

* Exclusive: "Fugitive" Venezuelan promises to stymie Melia sale plans!
* $300 million investments, he's government's scapegoat for corruption
* "I'm an honest man, with moral principles, I've never bribed anyone"
* Venezuela's judicial system "is a joke", in hands of corrupt lawyers
* Judges ruining the reputation of many others in the legal profession
* "I was cheated out of my home in Caracas by a lady lawyer's fraud"
* Used Polo's absence from Venezuela to transfer my home's title deed
* Throws critical spotlight on anything remotely approaching Justice!
* Threatened with immediate incarceration if he sets foot here again
* "I'm proud of my own achievements, but what's happening stinks!"
* "Invested almost all my fortune building a beautiful hotel in Caracas"
* "Banks don't believe in Venezuela so I had to put up my art collection"
* "Government's so greedy, only thinks of what can get out of it now!"
* Determined to put spoke in wheel of government's plan to sell Melia
* It's scarcely to be expected he'll be adding to the government's hype!
* Polo's NOT out for revenge but wants back what is rightfully his own
* "Fighting ...and I'll keep doing it right through to the bitter end!"
_______________________________________________________________________

Editor: Roy S. Carson VHeadline No.148 November 6, 1996
_______________________________________________________________________

Venezuela's Electronic News - P.O. Box 60.566 - CARACAS 1060
Email address : VHeadlin...@TRUE.net
telephone/telefax 00 58/2-283.2758
_______________________________________________________________________

* "FUGITIVE" VENEZUELAN PROMISES TO STYMIE MELIA SALE PLANS!

-- A $ millionaire described as "a fugitive from Venezuelan Justice"
claims he's been robbed of $300 million investments and that the
government's trying to turn him into a scapegoat for rampant corruption.
Speaking exclusively to VHeadline/VENews from his apartment in the
Trump Tower on New York's 5th Avenue, Julio Polo says he's sacrificed his
life trying to make Venezuela a better place to live in.
"I've constructed waterways, schools, paved villages and, specifically
in Caracas, constructed thousands of homes for people to live in," he says.
"I am an honest man, with moral principles and I've never bribed anyone ...
but corruption is at my heels."
Polo claims that Venezuela's judicial system "is a joke" and that a
small group of corrupt lawyers and judges are ruining the reputation of many
others in the legal profession. "A few mediocrities have enriched
themselves by exploiting my honesty and force of integrity."
Polo explains that during the 1993/94 collapse of Venezuela's banking
sector he became a victim overnight. "I was cheated out of my home in
Caracas by a lady lawyer's fraud, then they tried to run me over in a
car-park almost causing me to lose an arm -- I had to spend 3 months in
hospital in New York."
"The lawyer used the opportunity of my absence from Venezuela to
transfer my home's title deed to her uncle and, besides stealing my personal
effects, they also took several hundred million bolivares as well."
"To make a report to the police wasn't worth the bother because the
complaints I lodged mysteriously 'disappeared'...," Polo adds. "I then
tried to lodge a court complaint in the hope of at least some justice but
the criminals triumphed because I honestly respected the (Venezuelan) law."
Frankly, Julio Polo's story has all the hallmarks of an epic thriller
novel but it throws a critical spotlight on how anything remotely
approaching Justice in Venezuela has become a cruel fiction, because NOW
Polo's threatened with immediate incarceration if he so much as sets foot in
Venezuelan again.
"Por favor razone, please tell me why ... I'm the one who's been stolen
from, NOT the other way round!"
Polo alleges the unnamed lawyer's "feminine charms" were used to
subvert the Venezuelan Law. "My honesty is beyond reproach," Polo says in a
telephone interview. "And then to make matters more complicated, I had to
sell other assets in the United States to honor debts caused by other
peoples' fraud."
"Where is basic respect for property in Venezuela. I'm proud of my own
achievements but really, what's happening in Venezuela these days, stinks!"
"A lot of things have happened in Venezuela that are very bad indeed.
I was one of the biggest constructors."
"I invested almost all my fortune building a beautiful hotel in Caracas
(the Melia de Caracas) that remains unfinished. I did it all without help
from anyone -- I didn't receive support from the government in any way but
they (the Caldera government) tried to destroy me. But it was impossible
because I am honest and strong!"
"I have been trying to find financing to finish my hotel but the
international banks don't believe in Venezuela so I had to put my art
collection up as a guarantee ... a process that needs a little more time!"
"Imagine the situation ...if a VENEZUELAN bank was denied a loan for
$10 million, much less they'll lend to a private party like myself!"
"Some people live by sacrifices, honesty, work and providing employment
... that's exactly what I did ... I had a dream of having the best top rate
hotel in all Latin America, helping to put Venezuela on the map for tourism
... but the government is so greedy they only think of what they can get out
of it now!"

Julio Polo's now a very bitter man. He's determined to put a spoke in
the wheel of the Venezuelan government's plan to sell the Melia de Caracas
and says he's still got the legal mechanism to stymie any deal President
Caldera's government tries to reach with international investors.
"What good's a hotel with no entrance and no "brains" -- be assured
that the REAL owner will NOT give up so easily, nor does he intend to
cooperate with potential buyers!"
"Has the Industrial Bank of Venezuela (BIV) explained this situation?"
Polo asks.
He's flying from New York to Madrid this coming weekend for "talks"
with top executives of a hotel chain that's shown an interest in Venezuela's
hotel privatization plans. It's scarcely to be expected he'll be adding to
the Venezuelan government's sales hype!
Polo says he's NOT out for revenge but rather that by hook or crook
he's going to get his hotel back from a government he alleges has cheated
him out of what is rightfully his own.
"Please tell VHeadline/VENews readers around the world that Julio Polo
is a determined man," he says. "That means I will fight for what is right,
and I'll keep doing it, if necessary, right through to the bitter end!"

Article Unavailable