Broward Judge Mark Speiser named Tom Panza and Jack Siler as Guma Aguiar’s conservators. The attorney of his mother, Ellen Aguiar, gave her reaction after the hearing. “There is clearly a conflict between Ellen Aguiar and Jamie Aguiar,” Ilene Lieberman said. She said a neutral third party would have been their first choice, but Panza is a very reputable person…
A Broward County judge has appointed two lawyers to oversee missing millionaire Guma Aguiar's estate and pending litigation.
Judge Mark Speiser named Tom Panza as conservator of Aguiar's financial assets and properties in the U.S. on Tuesday. Panza will also have the court's permission to act as conservator in dealings involving Aguiar's millions of dollars in holdings in Israel, pending any challenges or other requirements by Israeli courts.
"At some point, the case will be resolved and the assets had to be maintained during that period, that's what the conservator does," Panza explained.
Spesier named a second attorney, Jack Seiler, as conservator of Aguiar's lawsuits. He will act in the 35-year-old's best interest in a host of suits filed in county and federal courts involving both business and domestic matters.
Seiler is also Fort Lauderdale's mayor.
Spesier’s ruling is not exactly what Aguiar's wife, Jamie, or mother, Ellen, were after initially.
"There is a conflict," said Ellen Aguiar's attorney Ilene Lieberman. "There is clearly a conflict between Ellen Aguiar and Jamie Aguiar."
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Click here to watch a video of the court battle.
The conflict stems over who is legally entitled to act as overseer of Aguiar's multimillion-dollar fortune until his whereabouts are determined.
After Aguiar's disappearance June 19, his wife and mother filed a series of legal motions to designate themselves as conservator.
"He hasn't been declared dead yet. He issued three documents making his intent very clear that he wanted his mother, he didn't want his wife," Lieberman told NBC 6.
Jamie Aguiar's lawyer, Al Frevola, said those legal claims should not be considered valid.
"[It's] remarkable that the same people that are trying to grab control of his assets are saying that when he was in a psychotic state in a mental ward that those assets, that those documents that were signed are a competent representation of what his true intent is," Frevola said.
Last week, Aguiar's mother and wife agreed to name attorney Glenn Goldstein as a conservator, but he bowed out due to previous responsibilities.
Aguiar sold the Texas-based energy he launched with his uncle a few years ago for $2.5 billion dollars.
His assets include his $5 million Fort Lauderdale home and $2 million yacht.
Proceedings will resume again next week so attorneys can itemize Aguiar's assets in Israel, which include more than a dozen properties and two sports teams.
Aguiar was last seen sailing from his home into stormy conditions on Tuesday, June 19 at about 7:30 p.m. The boat washed up hours hours later with its lights and engine on near Fort Lauderdale Beach. He was never found.
