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Fiscalía Admits Investigating
Figueres
The
Fiscalía de Delitos Económicos
has admitted, yesterday, for the
first time, that it has opened
an investigation to determine
the nature and relationship fo
the Alcatel payment to former
president José María Figueres
Olsen.
The Ministerio Público issued a statement
indicated that they are delving into the operations of the former
president's bank account, in an attempt to determine if there is any
truth to the accusations made in the local press.
Figueres admitted to being paid us$900.000 from the firsl H.F. DISA
which is controlled by his former government advisro, Roberto
Hidalgo, which is part of the us$2.700.000 dollars that Alcaltel
paid the Hidalgo firm for consulting services.
Carmen Valverde, a Figueres supporter and legislative deputy during
the Figueres administration (1994-1998) and Partito Liberacion
Nacional (PLN) party leader also got us$900.000, and balance going
to Hidalgo. Valverde is also the sister of Edgar Valverde, former
president of Alcatel in Costa Rica and currently in preventive
detention, accused of paying public officials to obtain a government
contract.
Figueres resigned as chief of the World Economic Forum, based in
Switzerland, last week, after pressure that he did not declare to
his employer the payments.
Figueres continues to hold firm that he did no wrong. The payment he
received for the consulting work, was years after his presidency.
According to Figueres he received the payments between 2000 and
2003, he left office in 1998, handing the presidential chair to
Miguel Angel Rodríguez, taking over from Rafael Angel Calderón, who
are both in La Reforma prison in preventive detention for corruption
and conspiracy.
Unisys Sells TSE
Used Equipment for New
Public institutions and employees are
being cautious these days, as Costa Rica continues to suffer from
world embarrassment over corruption scandals that has seen two
former presidents in preventive detention and a third being
investigated for corruption.
The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), the public organization
that is responsible for elections and issuing "cedulas" among other
things, is asking that the Unisys company be denied any future
government contracts, with the discovery that Unisys sold the TSE
used equipment for new.
Unisys has supplied the TSE with data processing equipment on
several occasions. A commission has been established to investigate
a process against Unisys when discrepancies were discovered in the
last two contracts.
The equipment in question is used to maintain sensitive data on that
includes electoral and civic information, that was purchased for a
cost of us$300.000 and would have a life of 8 years.
The equipment was purchased as new, however, Unisys manager, Jorge
Villalobos Clare, admitted in a written statement last month that
the equipment was in fact used and the reason for the lower cost.
If the commission finds Unisys with any wrongdoing, it could be
barred from any future government contracts from one to five years.
Rodríguez Appeals His Jailing
It appears that former Miguel Angel
Rodríguez is not happy with his current living arrangements and has
is appealing to the Sala IV - the Constitutional Court - in a Habeas
Corpus action to return him to house arrest instead of spending the
next six months in preventive detention in La Reforma prison.
The action was filed by Rodríguez lawyer, Rafael Gairaud, who has
been very vocal against the Superior Court judge's decision last
Friday to send his client to jail instead of maintaining his house
arrest, as the Fiscalía investigations accusations against the
former president.
Rodríguez had been ordered under house arrest by a penal court judge
on October 15, following his return to Costa Rica after stepping
down as Secretary General of Organization of American States (OAS)
amid allegations that he received payments from Alcatel and the
government of Taiwan.
Last Friday, Superior Court judge Gabrieal Jara, overturned the
original decision, ordering Rodríguez jailed, following arguments by
the Fiscalía that the former president was a flight risk and would
impede the investigation against him if he was allowed to remain
under house arrest, where he had access to phones, the internet and
visits.
Flight Information
Now Available Online
Ever gone to the airport to meet friends,
only to find that flight is delayed? What do you don? Hang around
and come back later? Need to know if your departing flight is
leaving on time?
Alterra Partners, the managers of the Juan Santamaria International
aiport have finally come to the rescue. Since the beginning, Alterra
installed television monitors at the arrivals and departures level
to give flight information, including the telephone numbers of the
airlines that have service to the airport.
Now, however, you can consult flight information online. Arrivals
and departure times of all flights, same information on the
television monitors at the airport, are now available on line.
www.alterra.co.cr is the website that has all information
about the airport, it's facilities and servces and Alterra itself.
Now, before leaving for the airport, visit
http://www.alterra.co.cr/FIWS/index.aspx
and check on the status of your particular flight.
Inflation to Reach 13%
Inflation for the first 10
months of this year was 10.34%,
the highest in the last three
years, this according to the
Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR).
According to Francisco de Paula
Gutiérrez, president of the
Banco Central, that figure in
contract to 11% the BCCR had
projected for this year.
The BCCR now expected inflation
to settle at between 12% and 13%
by the end of the year.
With the latest results, the
BCCR is considering increasing
interest rates by a one half of
a percentage point, along with
other measures it did not
disclose.
Gutiérrez, in a statement,
indicated that the current wave
of corruption scandals is not
good for the economy, creating
uncertainty and instability in
the financial sector.
The BBCR is the central control
for the financial system in
Costa Rica.
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