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Fischel-Caja Saga Continues
The saga of diverted funds from
the Caja Costarricense de
Seguero Social (CCSS) or locally
known as the "Caja" continues.
So far, five people have been
detained while the investigation
continues into funds that were
paid to public officials as a
commission following the
approval and payment of a
$37.000.000 Dollar credit from
the government of Finland to the
Caja - dubbded the "Fischel-Caja
Costarricense Proyecto Finlandia".
Walter Reiche
Fischel and Corporacion Fischel
lawyer, Randall Vargas Pérez,
were the first to be detained
several months back. Reiche was
president of the Corporacion
Fischel, the company that was
awarded the contract for
supplying the medical equipment
purchase with the credit. Both
are in preventive detention.
Last week, Eliseo Vargas, former
president of the Caja was
detained and given six months of
preventive detention. While his
lawyers are appealing the
detention order, claiming
inconsistency in the statement
of one Caja official that led to
the Vargas detention, he is
getting comfortable at the
Pocori jail in Cartago.
Former Costa Rican president
Rafael Angel Calderón Fournier
has been implicated in having
received $440.000 of the funds
and has been ordered not to
leave Costa Rica by a San José
court.
Calderón presented himself
before the prosecutor's office
early last week to offer his
testimony, however, was turned
away. The chief prosecutor,
Franciso Dall'anese, said
Calderón will be interviewed
when "we" are ready and not when
"he" wants.
Calderón has repeatedly said
that everything he has done has
been "correct" and challenged
the prosecutor's office to
search his home and office and
any other location they want.
Yesterday, with a court order in
hand, prosecutors accompanied by
OIJ agents raided the law
offices of Calderón y Asociados,
of which the ex-president is a
partner and the house of Gerardo
Bolaños, also a partner in the
law firm.
Agents confiscated from the
Bolaños house and the law firm,
large amounts of material, along
with computers and other
evidence they deem pertinent to
the case.
Authorities asked Bolaños and
his wife Ligia María Céspedes to
accompany them to the tribunals
for questioning with respect to
their role in the Fischel-Caja
case.
Bolaños is accused of cashing a
"cashier's cheque" in the amount
of $90.000 dollars, coming from
Harcourt Holdings accounts, held
by Walter Reiche and forming
part of the payments received by
many public functionaries, which
are one-by-one being discovered.
Late in the afternoon, Bolaños
was formally placed under "house
arrest". He will not have to
spend time in jail like the
others so far, however, his
movements are restricted by a
request made by the Ministerio
Público to the courts.
Bolaños, a former legislative
deputy, former director of the
Caja and partner in the law firm
with former president Calderón,
will remain under house arrest
and is restricted from leaving
the country for the next three
months.
Pacheco Announces Cabinet
Replacements
As
expected, President Abel
Pacheco, announced his cabinet
replacements following a flurry
of resignations thes past two
weeks.
Federico Carrillo Zurcher, a 39
year old lawyer and economist,
has been named to Hacienda
(Revenue), replacing Alberto
Dent. Carrillo said he will
dedicate his work to the Plan
Fiscal, the new tax reform being
debated.
First Vice President of the
Republic, Lineth Saborío, will
take over at the Ministerio de
la Presidencia, filling the
shoes left behind by Ricardo
Toledo. Saborío now holds two
key government positions.
Ovidio Pacheco (no relation to
the president) will move from
Labour to the Ministerio de
Obras Publica y Transporte (MOPT),
replacing Javier Chaves.
Manuel González will take his
place at Comercio Exterior and
Fernando Trejos will go to
Trabjo (Labour), who will be
resgining his post at Instituto
Mixto de Ayuda Social (IMAS) for
his new job.
Gasoline Increases; Short Work
Week Proposed To Save Fuel
Consumption
The cost of gasoline hit the
pumps this morning, a whopping
7% or 23 colones in the price of
a litre of super gasoline.
The government, in an attempt to
reduce consumption of the costly
fluid, is proposing a four day
work week for all government
employees.
The plan is to add a 1 1/2 hour
to each work day from Monday to
Thursday and have Friday off.
The plan is only one that is
studied by a special commission
in way to save gasoline
consumption, which is expected
to be tabled on October 1.
The short week is only one of
various points that are being
discussed, however, the
commission is not making those
other points known.
The plan, if adopted, will
reduce the number of people
using their vehicles, buses
and/or taxis for one day, that
will lead to lower fuel
consumption. The government is
hoping that any measures it
adopts will be an incentive to
private to business to follow
that example.
The measure, if adopted, will be
voluntary and is expected to
save between 10% and 20% in the
consumption of fuel or
$5.000.000 dollars per month.
Costa Rica imports some 16
million barrels of oil each
year.
Today, the price of a litre of
super gasoline is set at ¢349.8
colones. A liter of regular
¢334.3 and a litre of diesel
costs ¢250 colones.
Independence
Day Tomorrow:
No Miniskirts & No Military
Steps This Year
Tomorrow is a day of
Independence in Costa Rica and
festivities are being planned in
every town and community. San
José will see the largest
display of parades along Paseo
Colon and Avenida Segunda.
This year, the Ministry of
Education (MEP) has made it
clear that the students must
adhere to the "Manual de
Celebraciones Patrias" which
prohibits short skirts worn by
female students and use of
"military steps" in the marches.
The celebrations are a show of
patriotic fervor that Costa
Ricans, for at least one day,
can forget the scandals and
protests that have been common
place the last several weeks, as
politicians and public
functionaries are embrolied in
scandals.
The Education Ministry has said
it will not penalize those
students who break protocol from
the "manual" but will penalize
those teachers who permit any
deviance from the rules.
Tomorrow, the streets will be
filled with 'patriotic chants".
All public officers and banks
will be closed. Most businesses
will also be closed, though
retail stores and malls will
remain open.
The festivities begin tonight at
dusk with the "desfile de
faroles" which attracts many to
see the streets filled with
lanterns.
U.S.
Says Costa Rica Will Be Removed
From List
If Costa Rica doesn't want its
name listed as one of the
coalition partners in Iraq -
then the White House says it
will oblige.
Costa Rica's highest court ruled
last week that the U.S. can't
name the Central American
country as one of its coalition
partners.
A U.S. State Department
spokesman says Costa Rica's
membership in the coalition is
an expression of its opposition
to terrorism.
But he agrees that Costa Rica
didn't provide any troops or
economic assistance.
Costa Ricans widely reject the
U.S. led war in Iraq.
Help Sought to Pay the Price for
Justice
By DIANE CARROLL The Kansas City
Star
Jeanette Stauffer refused to
rest until her daughter's
killers were brought to justice
last year in Golfito, Costa
Rica. Now she wants to make good
on a promise she made to three
persons who came forward to help
her.
On Monday, Stauffer said she was
trying to figure out how to come
up with $30,000 in reward money.
She has told two witnesses and
an informant that she would pay
them by the end of the month for
helping convict a man and a
woman in the death of her
daughter, Shannon Martin, a
University of Kansas student.
The lives of the witnesses and
informant are in danger because
of the information they
provided, she said, and “I would
feel awful if something
happened” to any of them.
Martin was stabbed to death in
May 2001 outside a nightclub in
Golfito, a coastal town where KU
offered a study-abroad program.
She was a biology student
finishing research on an unusual
fern. She had planned to
graduate later that month.
Stauffer pushed Golfito
authorities to solve the murder.
But, with scant progress being
made, she and her husband, Brad
Stauffer, decided to offer a
reward in fall 2001 for
information leading to a
conviction.
Friends set up a reward fund and
the Stauffers had planned to
contribute significantly to it
themselves. But only $6,000 has
been raised and Stauffer said
she and her husband have come up
short because of all the money
they spent pursuing the case.
By late last year, when a man
and a woman were convicted, the
Stauffers had spent more than
$100,000, much of it in legal
and travel costs. They have sold
their home in Topeka and moved
to a smaller home in Eudora, and
dipped into their retirement
savings.
They are doing all right,
Stauffer said, but they still
are paying off debt and would be
hard-pressed to come up with
$24,000.
On Nov. 24, a three-judge panel
in Golfito found Kattia Cruz,
32, and Luis Alberto Castro, 38,
guilty of “simple murder.” They
both were sentenced to 15 years
in prison. A second man, Rafael
Zumbado Quesada, 52, was
acquitted.
Cruz and Castro appealed their
sentences, as did the Stauffers'
attorney, who wanted a longer
sentence. In July, the two were
found guilty of “qualified” or
premeditated murder, Stauffer
said. They now are each
sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The two are to be back in court
this week, with another appeal
of their sentence.
It's unlikely anyone would have
come forward without some
incentive, said Larry Thomas, a
Kansas Bureau of Investigation
agent who went to Golfito at
Stauffer's request.
Stauffer said the two do not
regret the price they paid for
justice.
“You do what you have to do,”
Stauffer said. “I wasn't about
to let it go, no matter what.”
To reach Diane Carroll, call
(816) 234-7704 or send e-mail to
[email protected].
An account is set up as the
Shannon Martin Reward Fund at
Capital City Bank in Topeka,
Kansas.
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