This is a recurring story. My father, a Guzmán and a lawyer, was contacted again and again for years by distant relatives, including an archbishop, requesting his help in investigating the inheritance. He never paid any attention to it and always believed it was scam by some Guzmáns to get some easy money from relatives for free trips to Switzerland.
When I became a lawyer, it was my turn. A group of cousins from Salcedo, Moca, Santiago and La Vega approached me and asked me to investigate. I told them I didn't believe the story was true but that if they wished I would retain Swiss counsel to do some preliminary work. Of course, they would have to pay the legal fees in Switzerland. I would not charge anything for my services. They accepted and I proceeded to write the following letter:
February 6, 1992
Dr. XXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX
3001 BERN, SWITZERLAND.
Dear Dr. XXXXX:
A report from the Spanish news agency EFE has appeared in the local press indicating the existence of an unclaimed inheritance in Switzerland belonging to some members of the Guzmán family here in the Dominican Republic.
According to the EFE report, a copy of which you will find enclosed, a bank employee has confirmed to the news agency the existence of a bank account, opened in 1865 by José Eugenio Guzmán, with a current balance of over a billion dollars. The bank is identified as the Swiss Volkbank in Bern and the account number is given as 284-5123-32z-0148.
We have a group of clients here in the Dominican Republic who claim to be descendants of José Eugenio Guzmán who are interested in finding out the truth of the press reports with the intention of claiming their share of the inheritance. They have asked us to contact and retain Swiss legal counsel to look into this matter.
We would like your law firm to make the necessary inquiries to ascertain the truth of the press report and, in case the estate really exists, to give us a legal opinion with regards to the possibility of our clients claiming part of the inheritance.
Please let us know as soon as possible if your firm is willing to handle this case and what the legal fees would be. You may send your correspondence to ...... or contact us by fax (....) or telephone (....).
Very truly yours,
Fabio J. Guzmán
A few days later I got a call from Dr. XXXX requesting a retainer to begin his investigation at $200 to $250 an hour. I relayed the information to my cousins and never heard from them again. Case closed.
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