"The Brothers" Goes To Trial
Tomorrow, Osvaldo Villaobos Camacho will be sitting at the defence table for the start of his long awaited trial as the Fiscalía opens their case known as Ofinter. The case will be tried in the Tribunales de Juicio de San José.

In the courtroom, in addition to his accusers, witnesses against him and the judges who will determine guilt or innoncence will be supporters, some who have stood by Osvaldo, others who, though critical of the whole process, are there to stand behind their man.

One man who will certainly not be present in the courtroom is the other half of The Brothers operation, Osvaldo's brother, Luis Enrique Camacho, who has been missing since October of 2002, who with his brother is being accused of the same crimes. The case will go ahead without him.

Osvaldo is accused of "legitimación de capitales, estafa e intermediación financiera ilegal" - money laundering, fraud and illegal financial intermediary.

The Brothers took in investors money paid interest on the money that was as high as 3.5% per month.

The Fiscales (prosecutors) say that there are 6.289 investors in the records of The Brothers operation, who had their bank accounts seized at the request of the Fiscalía Adjunta de Narcotráfico, who were on the heals of money laundering from drug trafficking.

The investigation into The Brothers became an international matter when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, suspecting a group of Canadian drug traffickers to have deposited money with the high interested operation.

The Brothers shut down operations in October of 2002. Prosecutors say that some 500 "investors" have come forward to file charges, looking for their return of some us$90 million dollars.

The trial is expected to include 57 witnesses for the prosecutor while the defense has said offered 60, according to a spokesperson for the Poder Judicial.

The trial is of interest to all investors who placed their trust in Enrique and Osvaldo.

The local Spanish press consists of only a short article in the daily La Nación. None of the other daily Spanish newspapers have mentioned the case

The trial is set to begin at 8:00am sharp in the auditorium of the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) building in downtown San José. The courthouse is the middle of the three sand colour buildings on Avenida 4. Judicial officials are expecting a large crowd the first week and chose the auditorium as the venue.