Jean Lafleur, Adscam, Costa Rica

Adscam player in Belize?

There will be peace in the valley in the upscale neighbourhood of San Raphael de Escazu. Frontline Adscam player Jean Lafleur, Costa Rica's most infamous Canadian gringo, won't be coming home for Christmas.

“We have heard that LaFleur and his constant companion Larry Umana are going to return on January 10,” one of Lafleur's Costa Rican neighbours told canadafreepress.com. “I hope that this is just another `false alarm' and they never come back.”

That's the latest segment in the Jean and Larry Show from sunny Costa Rica.

So far only CFP, who broke the story, the A.M. Costa Rica and La Belle Province's Le Devoir have covered the hijinks of a post-Gomery Lafleur abroad.

Yesterday, OttawaSun.com kicked in.

“Montreal adman Jean Lafleur, who is under investigation by the Quebec Provincial Police for fraud and is facing a $5.9-million federal lawsuit, has allegedly been partying it up in a lavish San Jose apartment since testifying before Justice John Gomery earlier this year,” wrote Stephanie Rubec, of the Ottawa Sun's Parliamentary Bureau.

“British-born investment adviser and author Scott Oliver, Lafleur's neighbour, is leading a concerted effort in the San Raphael de Escazu suburb to get Lafleur kicked out of the eight-unit apartment complex before he's due back in January.

“Oliver told Sun Media that he thought Lafleur “charming” when they first met last summer but he's since changed his mind.

“`I figured when he moved in, fantastic. I've got good quiet neighbours,'” Oliver said in an interview from Costa Rica yesterday.

“`I would have thought with his problems he would have liked to keep a low profile but the next thing we know he's having parties. All the neighbours are pissed off.'”

“Oliver said he and other neighbours have complained about Lafleur's partying ways to the apartment's management company and to the security guards but have so far been unable to force him out.

“Lafleur and his family raked in almost $13-million thanks to the sponsorship program, which made up 78% of his business from 1996 to 2000. His company, Jean Lafleur Communications Marketing, declared bankruptcy in September.

“RCMP spokesman Sylvain L'Heureux said Lafleur has not been charged so he is free to leave the country at any time.”

Should the Quebec Provincial Police or feds who launched the $5.9-million Lawsuit be interested, some Costa Ricans say Lafleur and Umana left Costa Rica for the primarily English-speaking Belize.

Belize is known for allegedly selling citizenships and, of course for its offshore banking opportunities.

Chances for Canadian taxpayers being recouped keep getting dimmer.

The RCMP, who always get their man, aren't looking for Lafleur, and in Canada there's been nary a peep about the Adscam scandal since the federal election writ was dropped.

Meanwhile, it won't be a white Christmas in the suburbs of San Ralphael de Escazu, but Lafleur's neighbours are counting on a less raucous one.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com