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Former President Calderón
Implicated in the Fischel-CCSS
Scandal
Former president, Rafael Ángel
Calderón Fournier, has been
implicated in the Fischel
scandal, when "Telenoticias"
aired a story tying Calderón to
Wálter Reiche Fischel and the
transfer of $440.500 dollars
with the respect to the purchase
of medical equipment for the
Caja Costarricense del Seguro
Social (CCSS).
According to
the information by Channel 7
news, Harcourt Holding, a
company headed by the
Corporación Fischel president,
Wálter Reiche, who is currently
in preventive detention, paid
the money to Sultana Panamá, a
Panamian corporation.
Sultana Panamá S.A. is
controlled by the former
president, Rafael Ángel Calderón.
Records show that monies were
exchanged on two separate
transactions, on May 20, 2003
$300.000 dollars and on Jan. 9,
2004, $140.500 dollars,
transactions that are related to
the Fischel-CCSS case that is
being investigated by the
prosecutor's office in Costa
Rica.
The president of the Corte
Suprema de Justicia, Luis
Paulino Mora, the Fiscal
General, Francisco Dall'Anese,
and the director del OIJ, Jorge
Rojas, are being tight lipped
about the news revealed by the
local television station.
Calderón has not made any public
comment on the matter, however,
is expected to make a formal
statement today, according to
his lawyer.
Earlier this year, the Spanish
daily La Nación, revealed the
connection between the
Corporacion Fischel the CCSS,
when the president of the CCSS,
Eliseo Vargas, was renting a
luxury home in Valle de Sol,
Santa Ana, owned by Fischel's
manager, Olman Valverde.
Vargas resigned as CCSS
president following the report.
Fischel was involved in the
purchase of medical equipment
for the CCSS from a company in
Finland, that amounted to more
than $37 million dollars.
According to the Telenoticias
report, a part of that money was
paid to the company run by the
Calderón and his family.
The daily Spanish newspaper Al
Día asked
President Abel Pacheco what he
thinks of the situation.
Pacheco told the Al Día
reporters that "I have known
Rafael Ángel since he was a
little boy and loved his father
very much.
I hope that he has good
explanation for all of this and
we won't have to live with the
pain that the accusations are
confirmed and that his guilty of
these acts.
There have been bad Popes and
the Church still survives.
Costa Ricans, it would have been
terrible if this information had
not been discovered. It would be
terrible to continue being
victimized by a group of people
who get together to take money
from the state... Like I have
said, if a son of mine commits a
criminal act, I will demand of
him that he be tried and
sentenced by the justice
system."
Al Día
also asked presidential
candidate and former president,
Óscar Arias, of his thoughts on
the events uncovered.
Arias said, "it is a hard blow
to our democratic institutions,
because nothing undermines more
the trust in those institutions
that corruption and impunity."
Judge Rules Faiello to be
Extradited
Dean Faiello, the New York quack
doctor has moved a step closer
to facing justice.
A Costa Rican judge ruled he
should be extradited to the
United States to face charges he
killed a Manhattan investment
banker on the operating table.
Dean Faiello has five days to
appeal Friday's ruling to Costa
Rica's highest court, where any
decision will be final, the
Spanish daily newspaper Al Dia
said.
The quack dermatologist is
charged with killing Maria Cruz,
35, during a botched April 2003
surgery.
Cruz's remains were discovered
buried in a concrete coffin
under Faiello's former Newark
home last February.
The Manhattan District Attorney
accuses Faiello of calling a
doctor friend, telling him that
Cruz had suffered complications
during surgery. Faiello ignored
his friends' advice to call an
ambulance and get the woman
medical attention.
Faiello fled the United States
several months before her body
was found.
Faiello, 44, was arrested in the
hotel Villas Playa Sámara, in
Guanacaste, on Feb. 26. He has
remained in the San Sebastian
jail while fighting extradition.
“The New York Post” who has been
reporting the story from the
beginning, published earlier
this month that Faiello has
spent at least $7.000 of his own
money to order in food from
McDonalds, Burger King and Pizza
Hut to his jail cell.
Having food delivered to the
jail is common for those
prisoners who can afford it.
The Post also said that the man
is paying other prisoners to
protect him inside the detention
centre, however, did not mention
the source of the information.
Faiello also faces several
counts in the U.S. related to
his October 2002 arrest for
practicing medicine without a
license.
Environmental Leader
The United States acknowledges
Costa Rica as a leader in
environmental practices and
laws, a nation that can generate
a major exchange among countries
in view of a Free Trade
Agreement.
The assessment is based upon the
fact that there is enough
legislation in the field, that
it is applied, and that there
are programs in place - such as
organic agriculture - that are
up to the most recent demands in
world trade. It also takes in
environmental and organic
certifications which are
effective here.
These facts were pointed out by
Mara Burr, the assistant advisor
to U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Zoellick, in a series of
lectures on the environment and
commerce.
$335,000 Donation from Japan
The Government of Japan will
donate Costa Rica $335,000,
through the World Bank, as a
contribution to the development
of the Limon Port-City Project.
The goal of the donation is
helping Costa Rica in the
preparatory stages of the
project, which is aimed at
transforming the port and city
of Limon, on the Caribbean, in
an economic growth hub, through
the promotion of tourism, the
improvement of infrastructure,
and the strengthening of the
local government, so that it is
enabled to promote progress.
Creating new jobs and
opportunities for the population
are also at the core of the
project, official sources added.
Less Practicing Catholics
A survey by the University of
Costa Rica shows that, among the
Catholic majority in Costa Rica,
the number of those attending
mass, going for confession, or
partaking in the different
ceremonies is decreasing.
According to the survey, only 47
percent of Catholics are
actually practicing. On the
other hand, the percentage of
non-believers went from 7.4 to
10.1 percent, while the
protestant ranks climbed from
11.7 to 13 percent.
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