Colombian Government To
Investigate Tico Couple
The Fiscalía General de
Colombia said it would
investigate fully the
connection of Cruz Prado
Rojas and Francisco
Gutiérrez Pérez for
"alleged terrorism"
following the find of
us$480.000 dollars
belonging to the
Colombian rebel group,
the Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de
Colombia (FARC), in
their home in Santa
Barbara de Heredia.
Mario Iguarán, the
fiscal general de
Colombia, affirmed
yesterday to the daily
Spanish language
newspaper, Al Día.
Iguarán said in the
interview that he
expects his Costa Rican
counterpart to at least
prosecute the couple on
charges of money
laundering.
"We will be sending
pertinent information to
Costa Rica to allow them
(Costa Rican judicial
officials) to prosecute
the couple for money
laundering", said
Iguarán.
The Costa Rican couple
were in possession of
the the money that was
left with them by the "canciller"
of the FARC, Rodrigo
Granda, wich was to
eventually be used as an
offensive against the
Colombian government.
The link between the
Costa Rican couple and
Granda and the money was
found in the personal
computer of the FARC
number 2 man, Raul
Reyes, who was killed by
the Colombian army on
March 1.
The Costa Rican find was
made on March 14 after
judicial officials
raided the home of Prado
and Gutiérrez, who
allege that they knew
nothing of the money,
that the safe were the
money was found was to
have contained documents
left behind in 1997 by
Colombian friends,
denying that they knew
the Granda's true
identity and his ties to
the rebel group.
Iguarán did not delve in
the alleged ties between
the FARC and Costa Rican
politicians, saying only
that the departure of
Fernando Berrocal as
ministro de Seguridad
will not affect the work
of both countries
against the guerrilla
(rebels) and drug
trafficking.
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