PRESIDENTIAL SCANDAL
Alcatel Firm Paid Rodríguez Credit Cards
The records shows that on July 31, 2002, former president, Miguel Angel Rodríguez's, account at the BICSA Bank was paid by a cashier's cheque drawn from the Banco Cuscatlán account helt by Servicios Notariales Q.C., the same firm that made the other payments to former members of Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) directors on behalf of Alcatel.

Servicios Notariales received from Alcatel us$9.600.000 dollars for services, who in turn paid out several members of the ICE board of directors and the credit card of account of the expresident.

Telenoticias, channel news 7, uncovered that Servicios Notariales paid us$5.200 dollars to the credit card account 4655-6401-0100-3658, the card used by Rodríguez.

This was the second credit card held by Rodríguez, paid by Servicions Notariales. On the day day (July 31) us$14.750 went to pay a credit card balance on card 4732-9816-6992-3003 issued by the Banco Interfin and again used by Rodríguez.

The payments at the banks, using cashier's cheques, were handled by a someone well trusted by Rodríguez" Rafael, Sequeira Garza, who was at the time the ex-president's advisor during his administration.

Sequeria has been called by authorities to give his declarations on the accusations by José Antonio Lobo, who sadi that Rodríguez asked for 60% of the us$2.400.000 dollars commission paid by Alcatel.

More Bad News for Rodriguéz
Another accusation against Rodriguéz is being brought to light by Noticias Repretel, the television channel 6 news team, that the former president received us$200.000 in commission for the underground cabling contract that is underway in San José.

The news channel based it's report on information received by judicial sources.

The Spanish firm Abengoa S.A. was awarded the us$55.000.000 dollar contract, of which 50% is being financed by the Spanish government and the other 50% by the Deutsche Bank S.A.E in Spain, to bury all electrical and communications cables in downtown San José.

The project is almost complete, the Compañia Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL), an ICE subsidiary, is putting the final touches to the digging and installation of conduits to begin the installation of the actual cable lines.

Humberto Arce, Legislative Deputy for the Bloque Patriótico Parlamentario political party, presente the Fiscalía de Delitos Económicos (prosecutor for financial crimes) documentation backing up the accusations against Rodriguéz.

The accusation is that former president Rodriguéz personally undertook to negotiate the terms of the contract with the Spanish government for the us$55 million dollar credit.

According to the documents, ICE also awarded Abengoa the construction contract for the thermal electric plant “Ciclo Combinado Garabito”. The contract was awarded in July of this year by ICE directors, Pablo Cob, Carlos Castro, Hernando Pantigoso and José Antonio Lobo.
Directors, Mayid Halabí and Pablo Ureña voted against the contract.

Abengoa and the Costa Rican firm Alconstra, together were awarded the ICE contract to construct three substations in Tarbaca, Poás and Cariblanco, worth us$5.4 million dollars and awarded in August of 2003.