Trump Staff Forcefully Evicted From Panama Hotel

After the Trump name was removed from the Ocean Club International Hotel, employees of the Trump Organization were also asked to leave. Police were called to escort those working for the Trump family company from the building – but it may be only the beginning of what could be a long legal standoff.

For the third time in a week, police in Panama were called to the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower – but on this occasion, they left escorting Trump Organization employees out of the building. ABC News reports that the workers were legally evicted by the building’s majority owner, Orestes Fintiklis.

In 2017, Fintiklis became the majority owner of the property after purchasing over 200 units in the building. Resulting from the deal, he sought to evict the hotel run by the Trump Organization from the building. After going to court, police and court officials officially showed those employed by the company the front door on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. Moments later, the Trump name was removed from a sign in front of the tower.

The building owner accused the Trump Organization of mismanaging the hotel with detrimental effects on the rest of the building’s tenants. In court, Fintiklis claimed that the organization run by the current President of the United States’ sons stood “in the way of [the] owner making any profit on its investment, all the while lining the [Trump Organization’s] pockets,” calling their management “gross incompetence.”

Although the hotel staff has been removed, reports claim that they may have taken computer equipment with them during the eviction process. Attorneys from the Trump Organization claim Fintiklis is operating in bad faith, going back on the original agreement made to operate the hotel when he took control of the 70-story tower.

“Rather than abide by the clear terms of the agreement he had signed, Mr. Fintiklis had been conspiring with others to remove Trump Hotels as manager,” the Trump Organization told ABC News in a statement. “Looking back, it is now apparent that Mr. Fintiklis, in flagrant violation of the commitments he had made, never had any intention of keeping his word and had been plotting a takeover and termination of Trump Hotels all along.”

This situation marks the second time in less than 12 months where the Trump name was removed from an international hotel. In 2017, the Trump International Hotel in Toronto was renamed after the building’s management company bought out their contract with the Trump Organization.

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