Nicaraguan Passes
Himself Off For 35 Years
As Costa Rican To
Collect Pension
It wasn't that Carlos
Pavón Ruiz, who lived in
Costa Rica for 35 years
under a false identity,
was ashamed of being a
Nicaraguan, he assumed
the identity of Miguel
Reyes Abarca, a Costa
Rican who had been taken
from Costa Rica to
Nicaragua as a child and
never came back, to
collect social security.
Since the death of
Abarca was never
reported, Carlos Pavón
took advantage of the
situation, by stealing
the identification and
crossing over to Costa
Rica, according to the
head of the Dirección de
Investigaciones
Especializadas (DIE),
Rodolfo Jiménez.
Jiménez said that up to
20 years ago, Costa
Ricans who died in
Nicarauga were simply
buried and the death
never reported to Costa
Rican authorities.
Pavón is recorded as
entering Costa Rica in
1973 at the age of 30
and authorities
speculate that he lived
with the family of the
Costa Rican, knowing
well the family history.
Records indicate that
the Tico Reyes never
requested a cedula, but
the Nica Reyes did so in
1978 when he asked that
the Tribunal Supremo de
Elecciones (TSE) provide
him with the
identification document
indicating his Costa
Rican nationality.
The man fell in the
hands of authorities
when he decided to
collect his pension, in
reality the pension
belonging to the Tico
Reyes.
For years Pavón had
lived in various
communities in Costa
Rica under his assumed
identity and without
problems. He even
explained the fact that
his children did not
have his last name,
Reyes but rather Pavón,
as being his
stepchildren.
Pavón collected pension
benefits for about one
year before an anonymous
calls to the Caja
Costarricense del Seguro
Social (CCSS) uncovered
the truth. The CCSS says
it is out some ¢730.000
colones.
When detained by police,
Pavón did his best to
convince Costa Rica
authorities that he was
Tico, however,
fingerprints proved
otherwise and the jig
was up.
Jimenéz said that this
is not an isolated case
and using fingerprints
his department has been
able to uncover a number
of foreigners passing
off as Costa Rican.
Jimenéz added that Costa
Rica has one of the
largest records of
fingerprints in Central
America, dating back to
more than 80 years. |
