Key Lessons for Doing Business Overseas
In August 2024, a Thai court sentenced Spaniard Daniel Sancho to life in prison for the murder and dismemberment of Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta. The crime occurred on the Thai holiday island of Koh Pha-ngan, better known for full moon parties than high-profile criminal cases.
The case attracted massive media attention—especially in Spain—not only due to its gruesome details and salacious backstory, but also because of its celebrity connections: Sancho is the son of well-known Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho. But beyond the tabloid headlines and courtroom drama, the case offers important lessons for anyone doing business overseas, including in China.
Among the more cautionary elements of the case was the decision by Sancho and his family to entrust the direction of his defense to Spanish celebrity lawyer Marcos García-Montes. While undoubtedly experienced on his home turf, García-Montes and his legal team appeared out of their depth in Thailand—an illustration of what can (and often does) go wrong if you attempt to navigate unfamiliar legal terrain with familiar tools.
Assumptions Can Be Dangerous—and Costly
Sancho's recklessness before and after the crime suggests he may have believed Thai police would struggle to connect him to Arrieta's disappearance—or perhaps wouldn't pay much attention to it. In reality, Thai authorities acted swiftly and effectively.
For businesspeople, the takeaway is clear: never assume a foreign legal system is weak, forgiving, or blind. A country may appear bureaucratic, underdeveloped, or corrupt on the surface, but that does not mean its institutions are ineffective—especially when foreigners are involved.
It is equally dangerous to assume that foreigners will be treated like locals. They usually aren't and may be held to a higher standard. What might be handled informally (or altogether ignored) by the authorities in a case involving a local could be treated very seriously when a foreigner is involved. The old saying that what is good for the goose is good for the gander simply does not apply in many international contexts.
Relatedly, foreigners may be unable to avail themselves of mechanisms that locals use to avoid and resolve legal issues. For instance, shadow banking networks that allow locals to move money across borders outside of official channels (and scrutiny) may be off-limits to foreigners.
When Trouble Strikes, Get Real Local Counsel
When legal trouble arises overseas, your top priority must be to engage qualified, experienced, and local legal counsel. Sancho's family should have immediately sought representation from a reputable Thai criminal defense firm. If the family was uncomfortable navigating the Thai system alone (which would have been understandable, given language and cultural barriers), retaining a trusted Spanish or third-country attorney as a liaison would make sense—but that person should play a supporting, not leading, role.
As Frank Cuesta, a Spaniard living in Thailand, who has had his own run-ins with the Thai legal system and frequently comments on the Sancho case, bluntly noted, "the problem is that [Sancho's Spanish lawyers] wanted to guide the Thai lawyer," when it should have been the other way around.
This principle applies in business, too. Your regular attorney can help identify and vet local counsel, but they cannot replace someone who knows the country's laws, institutions, and legal culture from the inside.
And importantly, the local attorney must be specialized in the relevant area of law. We work with excellent lawyers around the world—but most of them would be entirely out of place in a criminal matter, just as most of the top business lawyers in America would not be well-placed to defend someone facing criminal charges in the United States.
An ethical lawyer will acknowledge when something is outside their expertise and refer you elsewhere. Unfortunately, not all attorneys are so candid—so it is essential that you and your trusted counsel ask the right questions to ensure you're working with the right people.
In our experience, the lawyers overseas with the most international exposure—those with polished websites, excellent legal English, and comfort with cross-border clients—tend not to be criminal defense attorneys. That does not make them less capable in their field, but it they are likely to be the wrong fit when stakes involve criminal liability.
Respect the Local Culture—Especially the Authorities
Few mistakes are as damaging for foreigners as disrespecting local institutions. Unfortunately for Sancho, even this basic reality seemed to elude his legal team.
In a Spanish TV interview, García-Montes openly disparaged Thai police and mocked Surachate Hakparn, the deputy national police chief, widely known as Big Joke:
Let them ask supercop Big Joke why he was arrested and why he's under investigation. That grotesque, unorthodox, and illegal reconstruction of events, in which there was no lawyer, judge, or prosecutor, in which Daniel was told what to do, is evidently void. And the 60-page report we prepared declares everything done to the police to be illegal evidence.
As it turns out, Big Joke was later fired without a pension over alleged ties to a gambling network. But while that may seem like a vindication of the Spanish lawyer's approach, publicly attacking a high-ranking Thai police officer while your client is on trial in Thailand is a dangerous move.
Adding insult to injury, García-Montes also downplayed the dismemberment of Arrieta's body:
I get that the dismemberment is what grabs headlines—it's the champagne effect—but from a legal standpoint, it's not a crime against a person. Under Thai law (and also Spanish law), it's considered desecration of a corpse, which carries a one-year sentence that usually isn't even served.
This kind of comment might be suitable for an academic debate, but when used to defend someone who actually committed the act, it risks sounding like an effort to minimize one of the most disturbing elements of the crime.
Whether you are involved in a legal matter or a business dispute, making disparaging remarks about the integrity of judges, prosecutors, or police is a quick way to lose goodwill. So are comments that imply the country's legal system is corrupt, outdated, or inferior.
You're not just insulting a process—you are often insulting a national identity. And that rarely ends well.
This should go without saying—but as the Sancho case (and many others) shows, it clearly bears repeating.
Final Thought: Learn the Lessons Before It's Too Late
Daniel Sancho's case is exceptional in its facts—but the underlying pitfalls are not. Businesspeople get into trouble abroad all the time because they:
- Assume the system will not—or cannot—touch them.
- Rely on the wrong kind of legal help.
- Alienate the very people who could help them navigate the situation.
The good news? These mistakes are avoidable. By understanding local realities, seeking reliable, specialized counsel, and approaching foreign legal systems with humility and respect, you can stay out of trouble—and even turn challenges into strategic advantages.
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