Asset Recovery in Costa Rica: A Guide for Foreign Creditors

Asset Recovery in Costa Rica: Tracing, Freezing and Collecting What You Are Owed

Asset recovery in Costa Rica is the legal work of finding, freezing and ultimately collecting assets that belong to you or that should answer for a debt: money diverted by a business partner, funds from an investment that turned out to be a scam, property moved to dodge creditors, or a foreign judgment the debtor simply refuses to pay.

Most of our clients in these cases are foreign. They invested in a Costa Rican project, lent money, won a judgment or arbitration abroad, or discovered that a local partner emptied the company. The common thread is urgency: people who hide assets move fast, and a strong claim is worth very little if there is nothing left in the debtor’s name when it is time to collect. This guide explains how assets are traced in Costa Rica, how they can be frozen before they disappear, how fraudulent transfers are undone and how foreign judgments and awards are enforced here.

What asset recovery means in Costa Rica

Recovering assets is not the same as winning a case. Many creditors get a favorable judgment only to find out the debtor owns nothing on paper. Asset recovery is the strategy that connects the right you have with money actually reaching your account: identifying what assets exist, where they are and in whose name, freezing them in time and turning them into payment.

In practice it draws on several areas of law: civil procedure, with its interim measures and enforcement process; criminal law, when there is fraud, embezzlement or money laundering; corporate law, when assets sit behind companies; and conflict of laws, when the debt or the judgment comes from another country. If your claim comes from a broken contract or other harm, our guide to civil liability in Costa Rica explains how the underlying claim is built.

Typical asset recovery cases for foreign clients

• Investment fraud: money sent for a real estate, tourism or financial project that never materialized.
• Partners or managers diverting funds: company accounts drained, assets moved to third parties, deals with related parties.
• Debtors who make themselves judgment-proof: property transferred to relatives or newly formed companies right before or after a lawsuit.
• Foreign judgments and awards: a creditor holding a U.S., European or Latin American judgment against someone with assets in Costa Rica.
• Real estate scams: sales of property the seller did not own, double sales or payments to sellers who vanish. For title disputes, see land disputes in Costa Rica.

What these cases share is that the money or property exists, it just is not where it should be. The difference between recovering and not recovering is usually acting before the assets finish moving.

The legal routes: civil, criminal and insolvency

There is no single procedure called “asset recovery.” You choose the route, or combination of routes, that best fits the case:

These routes can run together, but they must be coordinated. A poorly planned criminal complaint can slow down the civil claim, and a civil measure filed without strategy can tip off the debtor too early. If the problem started with a contract, see breach of contract in Costa Rica.

Asset tracing in Costa Rica: what you can find and how

Before asking a court to freeze anything, you need to know what is there. In Costa Rica, much of a person’s or company’s wealth leaves a trail in public registries, and the rest can only be seen with court authorization.

Public information

• Real estate: the National Registry shows registered properties, liens and transfer history.
• Vehicles, vessels and aircraft: also recorded in the National Registry.
• Companies: the corporate registry shows legal representatives, board changes and incorporation dates. A company formed days before a transfer is a major red flag. Our guide to companies in Costa Rica explains how local entities are structured.
• Movable collateral and lawsuits: can reveal pledged assets or claims by other creditors.

Restricted information

Bank balances and transactions are protected by banking confidentiality and can only be obtained through a court order within a proceeding. The same applies to the beneficial ownership registry, which is not public; our article on UBO filings in Costa Rica explains how it works. That is why tracing usually happens in two stages: first, what can be investigated without alerting the debtor, and then, once a case is filed, what requires a judge’s order.

Open-source investigation and, in complex cases, forensic accountants who reconstruct the money trail complete the picture.

Freezing assets before they disappear

Interim measures are the core of any recovery strategy. Their purpose is simple: make sure that when the judgment arrives, there are still assets to pay it. Costa Rica’s Civil Procedure Code (Law 9342) provides several, and two matter most:

• Pre-judgment attachment (embargo preventivo, Article 86): freezes the debtor’s assets, such as real estate, vehicles, accounts or shares, while the case proceeds. It usually requires posting a bond to cover potential damages if the measure turns out to be unjustified. The case law compiled by CIJUL shows how courts apply it.
• Lis pendens notice (anotación de la demanda, Article 87): records the lawsuit in the National Registry against a specific asset, so anyone who buys it afterwards takes it subject to the dispute. It is especially useful when ownership of real estate is at stake.

The key feature for asset recovery is speed: Article 96 allows both measures to be carried out without a prior hearing. In other words, the debtor finds out once the asset is already frozen. If you are used to U.S. prejudgment attachments or English freezing injunctions, this is the closest local equivalent, although it works asset by asset rather than as a worldwide order.

The court can also order other measures when the standard ones are not enough. And in criminal cases, the judge can order the seizure of property or the freezing of bank accounts when there is evidence of a crime.

Why speed decides these cases

In asset recovery, timing matters as much as the merits. A debtor who suspects a lawsuit is coming can transfer a property in days, close accounts or set up new companies to move assets. Every extra transfer makes the road back longer, more expensive and less certain.

That is why sequencing matters: investigate quietly, prepare the lawsuit and the interim measure application together, and file them at the same time so the freeze happens before the debtor is served. Sending a demand letter first “to see what happens” can be the most expensive mistake in the whole case.

When the assets have already been moved

If the debtor has already moved assets, the case is not lost. Costa Rican law offers several ways to challenge those transfers:

• Sham transactions (simulación): when the transfer was only on paper and the debtor remains the real owner. Sales to relatives at unrealistic prices, with no real payment or with the debtor still using the asset, are common signs.
• Actions against transfers in fraud of creditors: the equivalent of a fraudulent conveyance claim, allowing creditors to set aside acts the debtor carried out to defeat their rights.
• Piercing the corporate veil: when a company is used as a shield to hide assets or avoid obligations, Costa Rican courts have looked through it to reach those who actually control it.
• Nominees: when assets are held by third parties acting for the debtor, it is possible to prove who the true owner is.

These actions require solid evidence: dates, prices, relationships between the parties and where the money actually went.

Enforcing foreign judgments and arbitral awards in Costa Rica

A judgment issued in another country, including a U.S. or U.K. judgment, is not automatically enforceable in Costa Rica. It first has to be recognized through exequatur, a proceeding before the First Chamber of the Supreme Court. Article 99 of the Civil Procedure Code governs the effect of foreign judgments and awards: once recognized, they have the force of a final judgment here.

In general terms, the Chamber checks that the judgment is final in the country where it was issued, that the defendant was properly served and had a chance to defend, that it does not violate Costa Rican public policy and that the documents are apostilled and officially translated into Spanish. The First Chamber’s case law shows how these requirements are applied. The merits of the case are not retried.

Foreign arbitral awards have a clearer path because Costa Rica is a party to the 1958 New York Convention. For foreign investors and companies, that is a strong argument for including arbitration clauses in contracts with Costa Rican counterparties.

One strategic point: while exequatur is pending, the debtor can move assets. Evaluate from the outset whether interim measures can be requested in Costa Rica to protect the eventual enforcement.

Enforcement: turning a judgment into money

With a final judgment or another enforceable title, the stage that really matters to a creditor begins. Enforcement proceedings allow assets to be attached, sold at judicial auction and applied to the debt. Any pre-judgment attachments obtained early in the case now become the concrete security for payment.

Depending on the asset, enforcement can include auctioning real estate or vehicles, seizing funds in bank accounts, or attaching company shares or debts owed to the debtor by third parties. When the debt is documented in instruments that carry enforceable status, faster collection procedures than a full lawsuit may be available.

Enforcement has its own battles: third parties claiming they own the asset, procedural motions to delay the auction and last-minute negotiations. Running it with the same discipline as the lawsuit is what secures the result.

The criminal route

When there are signs of fraud, fraudulent management, misappropriation or other property crimes, the criminal route offers tools the civil route does not: an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, access to information through court orders, and measures such as seizing property or freezing bank accounts.

Victims can take an active role as private complainants and claim compensation through a civil damages action within the same case. And when the funds come from illegal activity, money laundering legislation (Law 8204) and specialized authorities such as the Costa Rican Drug Institute can act on those assets.

The drawback is that the victim does not control the timing or priorities of a criminal case. That is why it usually works best alongside civil measures that protect the assets while the investigation moves forward.

When the debtor is insolvent

If the debtor has many creditors and not enough assets for all of them, Costa Rica’s Insolvency Law comes into play. It stops being an individual race to attach first and becomes a collective process with priority rules.

An active creditor still has plenty to do: file the claim on time, monitor how the estate is managed and ask for review of transactions the debtor made before the insolvency to the detriment of creditors, such as below-value sales or preferential payments to related parties.

Crypto and digital assets

More and more cases involve crypto assets. Tracing them is technically possible thanks to blockchain transparency, but freezing them depends on the funds sitting on an identifiable platform that can receive a court order. Under Law 10961, virtual asset service providers operating in Costa Rica are becoming subject to registration and supervision, which, once the implementing regulations are issued, should make this kind of action easier.

If your case involves crypto, act quickly and document the wallet addresses, transactions and platforms involved from the very beginning.

Self-assessment: how recoverable is your case?

Answer five questions to get a preliminary read on how recoverable your case is and how urgently you need to act. It does not replace a professional assessment, but it highlights what matters most.

How an asset recovery case is handled

1. Recoverability assessment: before investing in litigation, determine whether identifiable assets exist and whether the case justifies the cost.
2. Quiet investigation: trace assets through public registries and open sources without alerting the debtor.
3. Strategy design: choose the civil, criminal, insolvency or combined route and the right interim measures.
4. Simultaneous filing: file the lawsuit or complaint together with the interim measure application, so the freeze happens before service.
5. Litigation and transfer challenges: prove the claim and, where needed, challenge sham or fraudulent transfers.
6. Enforcement and collection: auctions, fund seizures and a final negotiation when the debtor has nowhere left to move assets.

Most of this work can be handled while you remain abroad, through a special power of attorney signed at a Costa Rican consulate or before a notary with an apostille.

Mistakes that cost the recovery

• Tipping off the debtor with letters, threats or social media posts.
• Suing without interim measures and winning against someone who no longer owns anything.
• Waiting for the criminal case without protecting assets on the civil side.
• Requesting generic measures without identifying specific assets, which usually leads to denial.
• Not reviewing the chain of transfers and stopping at the current registered owner.
• Delaying exequatur of a foreign judgment while the debtor reorganizes their assets.
• Negotiating without security, accepting payment promises that only buy the debtor time.

What does asset recovery cost?

It depends on the amount at stake, the complexity, the number of jurisdictions involved and whether forensic experts are needed. What we always recommend is starting with a recoverability assessment: an initial analysis of identifiable assets and available routes that lets you decide, with real numbers, whether it makes sense to go forward.

A well-planned recovery makes economic sense when there are assets within reach. Without that first analysis, you risk funding a long case only to end up with an uncollectable judgment. That is why we prefer to understand your case first and then propose a staged plan, with clear decision points along the way.

Prevention costs less than recovery

Many of the cases that end up in asset recovery could have been avoided with simple steps at the time of investing or contracting: real security over property, payments tied to verifiable progress, checking the counterparty in the National Registry and holding funds with an independent third party. Before you invest in Costa Rica or wire significant sums for a local project, an escrow or trust structure through AG Trust keeps your money protected until the agreed conditions are met. And if you are moving funds into the country, our guide to opening a bank account in Costa Rica explains the compliance side.

How AG Legal can help

Since 2000, AG Legal has represented individuals, investors and companies, local and foreign, in civil, commercial and criminal litigation in Costa Rica. In asset recovery we coordinate investigation, interim measures, litigation and enforcement as a single strategy, and we work alongside forensic experts and counsel in other jurisdictions when the case crosses borders. Learn more about our asset recovery practice.

If you need guidance on a specific situation, you can reach us through our contact page. You can also email us directly at info@aglegal.com with a short description of what happened, and we will send you a link to schedule a video call to talk through your case.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is asset recovery in Costa Rica?

It is the set of legal actions used to locate, freeze and collect a debtor's assets, or recover your own diverted assets, combining interim measures, litigation, criminal proceedings and enforcement.

Can I find out if someone owns property in Costa Rica?

Yes. Real estate, vehicles and companies are recorded in the National Registry, which allows public searches. Bank information, however, requires a court order.

Can assets be frozen in Costa Rica before a judgment?

Yes. A pre-judgment attachment under Article 86 of the Civil Procedure Code freezes the debtor's assets while the case proceeds, usually against a bond.

Will the debtor be warned before the freeze?

Not necessarily. Article 96 of the Civil Procedure Code allows pre-judgment attachment and lis pendens notices to be carried out without a prior hearing, so the debtor learns of it once the asset is frozen.

Does Costa Rica have worldwide freezing orders?

No. Costa Rican interim measures work asset by asset, on property identified in the application, rather than as a general worldwide freezing injunction.

Can I enforce a U.S. judgment in Costa Rica?

Yes, once it is recognized through exequatur before the First Chamber of the Supreme Court. The court checks finality, proper service, public policy and apostilled, translated documents, without retrying the merits.

How are foreign arbitral awards enforced in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is a party to the 1958 New York Convention, which provides a favorable framework for recognizing and enforcing foreign arbitral awards.

What if the debtor already transferred the assets?

Sham transfers and transfers made in fraud of creditors can be challenged in court, and courts have pierced the corporate veil of companies used as shields. Strong evidence of dates, prices and relationships is essential.

Should I file a criminal complaint?

When there are signs of a crime, the criminal route brings investigation and measures such as account freezes. It usually works best combined with civil measures that protect the assets.

Can stolen crypto be recovered in Costa Rica?

Tracing is possible thanks to blockchain transparency, but freezing depends on the funds being held on an identifiable platform that can receive a court order.

Can I pursue asset recovery from outside Costa Rica?

Yes. Most of the work can be handled by your Costa Rican lawyer under a special power of attorney, and foreign documents can be used once apostilled and officially translated.

How long does asset recovery take in Costa Rica?

An urgent interim measure can be obtained relatively quickly, while litigation and enforcement can take months or years depending on complexity and the parties' appeals.

Recommended Reading

• Asset Recovery Practice at AG Legal
• Civil Liability in Costa Rica
• Breach of Contract in Costa Rica
• Suing for Damages in Costa Rica
• Land Disputes in Costa Rica
• Investment in Costa Rica

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice for any specific case. Every claim depends on its facts, its evidence and the applicable deadlines. To discuss your situation, contact AG Legal.