Abelito: On Having Interpol Red Alerts On Him (For False Crimes), Turning to Bitcoin Out Of Desperation, & Life Starting Anew.
“I didn’t find bitcoin. Bitcoin found me.” – Abelito
This is a preview from our conversation, which you can listen to here and here. The Misfit newsletter explores the real-life impact of Bitcoin on our personal lives, communities, and human rights.
In 2017, Abelito was on holiday in the United States when he received shocking news: the International Criminal Police Organization – Interpol – had a red alert on him.
The Panamanian government claimed Abelito had committed eight crimes. Though they alerted Interpol of Abelito’s crimes, they had not informed Abelito of his own crimes – which, in the words of Abelito, were “laughable” crimes. (Later, these crimes would prove to have been fabricated by the government itself and not true.)
“One [crime] was a purchase that I made. They were saying that they were overpriced. That the goods were never delivered.
So, for example, if you're a public official (which he had been), and you buy things with public funds, and then those goods and services are not there or they never happened, the service or the goods are not accounted for. You're in trouble, right? Because you spent money for something that didn't exist.” – Abelito
…..
“Another case was even more amusing. I didn't have an office when I [started working for the government] because I created an institution from the ground up. So, I had to remodel a whole office space for all the people that were working with me – which were around 4,000 people.
So you spend money redecorating [and] putting the office in a way that people can actually work. Two years later, my replacement decided to move to a new location, and all the sunk costs of the previous office were deemed as lost property. Even though I was long gone from the government and did not make the moving decision, the prosecutor decided that I was responsible.” – Abelito
If these were “laughable” crimes, what motivated the Panamanian government to involve the world’s largest international police organization? To answer this, we have to go back a few years.
Rewinding Time
From 2009-2014, Abelito worked for the Panamanian government under the Presidency of Ricardo Martinelli. Martinelli’s Vice-President was Juan Carlos Varela, whom Martinelli would later have a falling out with, and eventually throw out of government. Varela didn’t take too kindly to this and promised to take revenge, according to Abelito.
In 2014, Varela ran for President, won, and waged war against Martinelli and his previous staff – of which included Abelito.
“After I quit the government, the [new] president that came along was a big enemy of his predecessor. So, basically, they started a war. The former president and the new president. And then, as is life in the tropics, the [new president] decided to mount a wide persecution against everyone – from the [previous] president all the way down. So, it was a witch hunt, in which, you know, everyone was a target.” – Abelito
With Varela’s government framing Abelito as a criminal (for having worked under Martinelli), Abelito desperately needed a way to stay safe while he fought the criminal charges and proved his innocence (and the laughability of the accusations). Given he was already vacationing in the U.S. it made sense to stay there.
“I had no other option [but] to seek asylum in the U.S. because I knew that if I went back to my home country I [would] be detained.100% sure.”
Seeking asylum in the U.S. (or anywhere for that matter) can be an arduous, lengthy, and difficult process. Not to mention there are never any guarantees.
“Every legal process can take between six and 10 years. In that timeframe, you spend thousands of dollars [on] lawyers. You basically have no life. They destroy your reputation because the banks don't want to have anything to do with you. They start closing your accounts. You start losing all opportunities.
And then, since I was basically an asylum seeker, I couldn't travel. I couldn't do many of the things that I was used to when it came to employment or business opportunities.
So, it was a big loss for me during [this] time. And that was a very traumatic experience. All it takes is someone that doesn't like you to open a legal case against you. And if you have institutions that are not very strong, or are very corrupted, or are very prone to manipulation, then you are in for a really unpleasant surprise, time, and pain, and everything.” – Abelito
The government had made accusations against Abelito without first doing an audit to determine if crimes were in fact committed. After they made the accusations, they petitioned for an audit.
Normally, it’s the other way around. An audit is performed, and if the results are troublesome, an investigation is opened. However, in Abelito’s case, he was being accused of crimes without evidence.
Whatever happened to being innocent until proven guilty? What happened to having all the facts laid out before taking someone to court? What about not canceling people without open and public evidence? And why hadn’t Interpol requested these facts in the first place (or had they)?
Finding Bitcoin Out of Desperation
If your bank doesn’t want to do business with you, and your bank account runs the risk of being closed off, where do you turn to? Where do you go to protect your financial value? For Abelito, it was bitcoin.
He remembered his wife telling him about bitcoin back in 2012. But having worked all his life in finance and economics, for banks and private equity funds, and even the government, he had discarded bitcoin right away.
“I thought [bitcoin] was 100% a scam.” – Abelito
Now everything was upside down. He wasn’t high up in the financial pyramid. Quite the opposite. He was nearly cut off from participating in a financial system he had once benefited from and contributed to. The tables had turned and now he risked having nothing at all. With shifting circumstances, his mental framework had to shift as well.
“[Bitcoin] was out of desperation. It was not out of conviction.” – Abelito
…..
“I spent, I think, thousands of hours [learning about Bitcoin] because I was already in asylum and I was by myself in the U.S. I was pretty much in touch with very, very [few] people while all this was going on because I didn't want to have that much contact with people – except my lawyers and family.
So, I had a lot of free time to dedicate myself to [studying] Bitcoin. The more I read about Bitcoin, the more I got orange-pilled (meaning converted) until it became almost like an obsession. Because then you start to learn all the possibilities and all the things that this little asset has and the potential to fix so many problems in the world.” – Abelito
He continues:
“Then, I decided to move almost all my funds [to bitcoin] because if they actually froze my funds, it would pretty much be game over. Because [bitcoin] was pretty much the only way that I had to send money back home to my family. So, I [thought], ‘I'm just gonna see if I can protect my assets’ and then put it into bitcoin.” – Abelito
This is why Bitcoin can be a tool that helps protect our human rights and our monetary value.
When we are being wrongly accused, punished without evidence, framed by officials who do not whole-heartedly represent the intention of its people, or are held under the crushing boot of corrupt institutions, or are financially cut off for holding different ideologies, bitcoin awaits us with open arms.
It allows dissidents, rebels, misfits, and the oppressed to bank themselves in desperate times. In many cases, it offers people a way to save their own lives. That’s why for many people, bitcoin means one word: liberation.
While bitcoin can be liberating, perhaps putting all your funds into bitcoin is not the best decision. Depending on your age, your needs, goals and financial situation, putting all your money into bitcoin may not be realistic, smart or safe. Maybe 0.5% allocation works for you, in which case, that’s great!
But for someone, like Abelito, who was being suffocated by political ego and corruption and the potential banking obedience to an unforgiving president, putting all his funds into bitcoin was in fact the best idea. He had no option but to move all his funds into bitcoin in order to protect it from confiscation. For him, bitcoin was a protective layer against government overreach.
“The way I see bitcoin is not as an investment. Bitcoin is a savings technology.” – Abelito
Abelito’s Path to Innocence
In the end, Abelito was proven innocent.
“The auditors didn't find anything wrong with what I did. And actually, the audit came in my favor. [Turns out,] the only way that they can condemn you [is] if there's an audit against you.
So, what they did – the prosecutor – [was] to hide the audit for three years. [I kept wondering] ‘where's the audit’?
They knew that they didn't have a case. But what they [wanted] to do is just keep the whole thing open so that it takes forever. Then, they taint your name in the media because people don't actually look into the details. They just look at the headlines. And then [think] ‘okay, that's the headline and he's guilty.’
Then you spend hours explaining why that's not the case. But nobody has the time to really listen to your case. They just read a three second headline and that's how they make conclusions – and this is the same here in Latin America and in the U.S. Everywhere.” – Abelito
As for Interpol, they took down the red alerts on Abelito because they realized the Panamanian government had overstretched their privilege and power.
“Panama had violated the rules and regulations of Interpol [which] they wrote in a letter”
It took seven years, the loss of freedom, isolation from family, being stuck in a foreign country, scared to be cut off bank accounts, fighting in courts, seeking asylum in the U.S. to be proven innocent – and for crimes that were never crimes in the first place.
This is something that should not happen in this day and age. And yet it keeps happening. And it will continue to happen because our systems – from our financial to our political and our legal systems – are broken.
“I kind of say that, you know, I wish this never happened. I don't wish this on anyone and not even my worst enemy… I started my persecution journey as a one person and I ended as a completely different person. And now I treasure every second that I have and spend time with my family and try not to waste it.” – Abelito
Despite the shitty cards he’s been dealt, he still manages to have a sense of humour.
“In the end, I was able to come out of the sausage machine in one piece.” – Abelito
This is a conversation that blew me away. And humbled me to the realities of many people worldwide: that being on the wrong side of politics – which is always arbitrary – can cost you your life. Not everyone makes it out ok. Luckily Abelito did.
If you have a moment, I highly recommend you listen to his full story here. You will not regret the time spent.
What an incredible read! Thank you so much for sharing Abelito's story