If You Don’t Investigate, You’ll Never Know; Panama Canal to Present New Port Projects; Panama Regulates the Medical and Scientific Use of Cannabis.

Friday, October 16, 2025. If You Don’t Investigate, You’ll Never Know One of the most common questions I hear from clients is: “Do you think my case even has any value? Should I bother investigating this?” My answer never changes: if you don’t investigate, you’ll never know. Investigations are like opening doors in a dark hallway.  You never know which one leads to the truth until you start turning the handle. Some doors reveal nothing of consequence. Others lead to entire rooms of hidden detail that can redefine the case, the company, or even someone’s future. That’s why it’s so important to stay disciplined. A good investigator always keeps sight of the primary objective; the “why” behind the assignment. At the same time, we can’t ignore what surfaces along the way. The best findings often appear when we’re pursuing something else entirely. We just have to recognize when a discovery has potential merit and when it’s better to set it aside for later review. A recent case reminded us of this principle in full. An employee filed a report about a “minor collision” involving a company vehicle. Nothing about it seemed remarkable at first glance, except for one detail: the report came in several days late. That simple irregularity became the thread we decided to pull. When we began looking closer, the story quickly changed. The “minor collision” was actually a total loss that happened on a day the employee wasn’t scheduled to work. The car wasn’t where it was supposed to be. There were unauthorized passengers, personal tools loaded in the back, and even a dog in the vehicle. He claimed he was visiting a client, but when we obtained video of the accident and photos of the aftermath, he appeared disheveled, wearing torn clothes, and clearly had not been conducting business. Those inconsistencies led to deeper background checks, timeline reviews, and financial audits. Before long, the investigation exposed something much larger: a pattern of embezzlement and misuse of company resources that had gone unnoticed for months. All of it began with one seemingly insignificant  “collision.” That’s the nature of investigation. Sometimes a case begins as a whisper and ends in a revelation. The truth rarely announces itself; it hides in habits, details, and coincidences. Our role as investigators is to listen carefully to those whispers and follow them wherever they lead. So when clients ask whether their case has value, I remind them: the real value of an investigation lies not in what you expect to find, but in what you discover along the way. At B.M. Investigations, we believe that every unanswered question deserves light. Because if you don’t investigate, you’ll never know. Brett Mikkelson Director, B.M. Investigations, Inc. – Private Investigations in Panama TOP NEWS and TIDBITS: Panama Canal to Present New Port Projects to the Market On October 27, the Panama Canal will present port projects around the waterway, necessary to expand transshipment capacity in the area that is already at its limit, stated the waterway’s administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez. The development of new ports on both the Pacific side (Corozal) and the Atlantic side (Telfers) is part of the plans being analyzed by the Canal, which also include the construction of a gas pipeline, an initiative that was already presented to the market last September. Vásquez explained that approximately “21 million containers” move through the Canal, of which “15 million” are transshipped, and the “capacity of the ports” around the waterway “is now practically at its limit.” “There is a significant opportunity for the Canal because 72% of container ships transiting the Canal call at Panamanian ports, and the need for docking ports is important for the sustainability of the container business,” which is the main activity of the interoceanic waterway, the administrator highlighted. Panama’s five main ports are located around the interoceanic Canal and are operated through tenders by companies from the U.S., Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. The Corozal project, a port with a cost of at least $1.3 billion, was tendered in March 2017 but the process was left void after the prequalified companies did not submit a formal bid. Last July, Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, stated that the construction of a new port on the Pacific side of the interoceanic Canal is an “urgent necessity.” According to Mulino, the Corozal port “already has a queue of clients established among international cargo users and handlers (…) they are major operators and transporters of significant cargo, and of course, they know more is coming. More cargo, more movement” in the Canal area. The idea of building new transshipment terminals around the Canal has resurfaced strongly within the framework of the concession transfer process of the Balboa (Pacific) and Cristóbal (Atlantic) ports from the Hong Kong operator CK Hutchison to a consortium made up of the U.S. fund manager BlackRock and Terminal Investment Limited (TiL), the port arm of the shipping giant MSC. This operation, part of the global sale of more than 40 ports operated by CK Hutchison for approximately $23 billion, has been delayed by China amid a geopolitical struggle with the United States. In this scenario, other parties have shown interest in participating in CK Hutchison and BlackRock’s global transaction, such as the Chinese shipping giant Cosco or the French CMA CGM, according to specialized press reports. READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE APAMEC Defines Action Plan to Modernize Panama’s Capital Market The Panamanian Capital Market Association (APAMEC) presented the priorities that will guide its management over the next two years, focusing on regulatory modernization, technical training, and strengthening the transparency of the financial system. The announcement was made during the inauguration of the new Board of Directors, led by Patricia Boyd, who stated that the capital market must become “a driver to safeguard the economy and demonstrate to the world that Panama is a reliable, ethical, and secure financial center, where savings are converted into productive investment under clear rules, generating employment, innovation, and competitiveness.” Among the main actions, APAMEC