Former Alcatel Costa Rica
President Gives Declaration
The ICE-Alcatel saga continued
yesterday with the testimony by
former Alcatel Costa Rica
president, Edgar Valverde,
before the fiscales - the
prosecutors.
Valverde, in his declarations
made reference to an Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad
(ICE) engineer - Eduardo Fonseca
- who received payments from the
French telecommunications firm,
related to it being awarded the
multimillion dollar contract for
GSM cellular service in Costa
Rica.
"I don't recall with exactness
the sums and the number of
payments made to Mr. Fonseca
that were made by way of
Servicios Notariales Q.C...."
Valverde said.
Fonseca is an engineer with 17
years of service at ICE and
reached the the position of head
of the Dirección de la Unidad
Estratégica de Negocios de
Desarrollo y Ejecución de
Proyectos following promotions
during his years at the
institution.
It is alleged that Alcatel made
payments to Servicios Notariales
Q.C. for a total of us$13
million dollars, that was used
to payoff a number of ICE
employees and board members,
José Antonio Lobo, Joaquín
Alberto Fernández, and ICE
engineer, Rodrigo Méndez, among
others.
Lobo was the first to "sing" -
telling prosecutors his role in
receiving some us$2.4 million
dollars related to the Alcatel
contract and who former
president Miguel Angel Rodríguez
advised him to take the money
that was being offered and that
the two should split it 60/40 in
Rodríguez's favour.
Rodríguez, who was president
between 1998-2002, was detained
on October 15, 2004 when he
returned to Costa Rica after
stepping down as Secretary
General of the Organization of
American States and is sitting
out preventive detention in La
Reforma prison while the
Fiscalía investigates. Lobo,
however, is waiting it out in
the luxury of his private home
under "house arrest".
The comments by Valverde were
made to television Channel 7
news - Telenoticias - as the
Fiscalía, unlike in the past, is
being tight lipped about the
investigation and testimonies
being made before them. Fiscal
General, Franciso Dall'Anese,
has being accused of creating a
"circus" atmosphere surrounding
the ICE-Alcatel case and his
office leaking information to
the press.
President Pacheco Promises Tough
Action Against Alajuela Hospital
Builder
The hospital that took some 25
years to build - the new
hospital in Alajuela that was
recently opened - is under fire
with the detection of more than
300 major flaws, from
construction to non-working or
faulty equipment.
President Abel Pacheco, only
three days following his release
from the Calderón Guardia
hospital for heart problems,
promised his government will use
the full force of the law to
investigate the complaints.
The hospital run by the Caja
Costarricense del Seguro Social
(CCSS) came into operation in
October of 2004 following years
of planning.
The Spanish consortium OHL, who
designed and built the hospital,
is under pressure to make the
repairs and replace faulty
equipment. Doctor Jorge Arias
Sobrado, was appointed to head a
newly created unit - Unidad
Ejecutora - to ensure that the
hospital is made to function
properly.
Meanwhile, patients and
employees at the hospital are
complaining about faulty doors,
elevators, air conditioners that
don't cool, computers and
medical equipment that only
works at time or doesn't work at
all.
The hospital cost was more than
¢17 billion colones (us$36.5
million dollars).
Man
Arrested for Suspected Sexual
Abuse of Two Minors
A 64
year old man will be spending
the next three months in
preventive detention following
his arrest last Friday for the
suspected sexual abuse of two
minors aged 7 and 14.
The man identified only by his
last name, Rodríguez, was
arrested by agents of the Unidad
de Explotación Sexual del
Ministerio de Seguridad Pública
- Sexual Crimes Unit - near the
Juan Santamaria (San José)
airport in Alajuela while he had
the two minors in his car at the
time.
According to the police report,
agents arrived just in time to
detain man before he could
sexually abuse the two girls.
The young girls, who lived in
the poorest area of Pavas, west
of San José, had not made a
complaint against the man for
fear of reprisals against their
brother. Agents were tipped off
by an anonymous caller.
Ana Helena Chacón, Vice-Minister
of the Seguridad Pública, is
making a call to Costa Ricans to
come forward and denounce any
sexual abuse suffered or
perpetuated by a family member,
friend or neighbour.
The latest case of sexual abuse
of minors was discovered less
than two weeks ago when a man
identified only by his last name
Rojas, was arrested for sexually
abusing his two step daughters
who were 8 and 15 years of age.
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"Gringos Want Fresh Meat"
Madam Trial Judges Hear
Testimony
"The Gringos
are tired of Nela, they
already know her, they want
fresh meat", were words that
heard by a judge from a
telephone wire tap of a
presumed conversation
between Madam Sinaí Monge
and her brother Miguel.
Sinaí is on trial for
providing underage
prostitutes to her clients
when an undercover Organismo
de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ)
agent infiltrated the closed
family business and was able
to place an order for a
minor, who, according to the
police report, was ready,
willing and able. The young
girl would then "kick back"
a part of her earnings
upstairs to the Madam.
Sinaí's brother Miguel has
already being sentenced for
his role in the business,
when he pleased guilty and
made a deal with
prosecutors.
Miguel's job in the family
business was to make contact
with "gringos" who would pay
well. The girls were
transported in bus labeled "Transportes
de estudiantes" - school bus
- that held up to 15 girls
who were driven to and
paraded for the customers.
"Look, choose and pay".
Testimony being given in the
trial are revealing the way
the Madam worked. And that
she did well. Among her
customers were notable
businessmen, members of the
OIJ and the Poder Judicial
and politicians, however,
prosecutors have not made
public any names contained
in the Madam's black book.
The court is learning how
customers could call on the
Madam and have their desires
fulfilled. The bus was just
one "marketing" method where
frequent customers could see
the new girls, looking for
fresh faces.
Investigators had been after
the Madam for a long time.
However, due to low
resources available and the
connection that the Madam
had, they efforts were
continually being
frustrated.
Their big break came when
the OIJ Cerdas was able to
take one of the two girls
that was sent to him to a
motel where she was paid
with a marked us$100 note.
The girl was underage and
investigators had to play
out the game to ensure that
the girl was providing
sexual services on the
orders of the Madam.
Police, in their court
testimony, told how their
low budget made their
efforts almost impossible.
The group knew the vehicles
used by police
investigators, who had to
start using their personal
vehicles to avoid detection
and how the agent could only
take one of the girls to the
motel, instead of the two
that would have made their
case stronger, since they
only had one note available.
The judges were told the
details of the operation
that brought down the Madam,
the OIJ agent telling the
court that they he waited
until the girl was
completely naked, had the
money in her hands, that he
excused himself to make sue
the motel door was closed,
when in fact he opened it
for his companions to enter
the room. The entire process
was captured on video and
the will shown in court - in
private - as the trial
continues.
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