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Calderón Back In Court Today
Following his brief
stay in hospital and return to
his jail cell, former president
Rafael Angel Calderón, will
return to court this morning to
pick up where his hearing left
off on Thursday following his
ill health.
At 8:30 this morning, the former president will again be in the
Goicochea courthouse where he is appealing the order to be kept in
preventive detention in La Reforma, wanting his detention changed to
house arrest.
At the hearing, he is expected to face his co-conspirators at the
Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) who have pointed the
finger at Calderón being the key person in the Fischel-CCSS scandal
that has seen several public functionaries and businessmen in
preventive detention or house arrest.
Principally, Eliseo Vargas, former president of the CCSS, Walter
Reiche Fischel, president of the Fischel Corporation, Gerardo
Bolaños (Calderón's law firm partner), and Juan Carlos Sánchez are
expected to give their testimony.
Preventive detention is applied to those accused of crimes so that
they cannot evade justice by fleeing the country or hiding out
and/or so as not to impede the judicial investigation. In normal
circumstances, the accused can be held in a penal institution for up
to 18 months, with period reviews by the court, after which time,
the prosecutor has to present formal charges, followed by a trial or
let the accused free.
Former president Calderón has been in preventive detention since
October 22, accused of conspiracy and illegal enrichment and is
being held at the La Reforma prison, Costa Rica's largest prison,
for his own security.
Meanwhile, another former president, Miguel Angel Rodríguez, sits
only some metres away from Calderón in another jail cell on similar
charges in the ICE-Alcatel scandal. The two former presidents cannot
communicate with each other and have their 'outside' varied so as to
avoid any possible contact.
The former president's visitor schedule is also different and
separate from the other inmates, prison officials saying it is for
their own protection and not to cause any disturbances with other
inmates in the prison.
Prison Scares
Daddy
By Douglas Montero and Jeane MacIntosh
New York Post
The young son of a convicted New York con man who's
on the lam in Costa Rica said his father will never surrender to
authorities because he can't handle the stiff jail sentence.
"He said it would be a long time in jail," Edward Lurie, 14 - son of
fugitive fraudster Brett Lurie, 44 - told The Post of his dad's
refusal to turn himself in.
Edward spoke from the Costa Rican beachside home where he and his
brother, Jesse, 13, live virtually alone - abandoned by their
ex-hooker stepmother and in the care of an erstwhile nanny - while
their dad dodges capture.
Brett Lurie was convicted of scamming a Queens co-op in 1994. After
convincing a sentencing judge in 2001 that he needed more time to
sort out matters with his sons, the feckless father, who'd raised
the boys after splitting with their mother years before, spirited
them out of the country.
U.S. officials have an extradition warrant and are determined to
"bring in" the scammer, who's set up a swank new life, replete with
stunning, $1 million-plus beachfront and mountain hideaways guarded
by dogs.
Meanwhile, his two boys live an "independent" life, full of
uncertainty as to when they'll see their dad again, Edward said.
Their lives hinge on his daily phone calls, which Lurie always ends
with the words "Behave yourself - I love you," Edward said. "Living
this way helps us become more independent," reasons the articulate,
mature teen.
Nevertheless, the U.S. Embassy, which has "legal responsibility" for
the boys' safety, just launched a "welfare and whereabouts" probe
into their plight, said spokeswoman Elaine Samson. "They are
American citizens and minors," she said. "Our concern is whether
they are being adequately taken care of, and who is the legal
guardian of these children."
The embassy also alerted Costa Rica's national child-welfare agency,
which has legal jurisdiction over the kids' well-being, Samson said.
The embassy's involvement was triggered by a Post investigation of
Lurie's whereabouts, during which a reporter discovered the boys
were fending for themselves - taking a taxi to school and eating
meals alone in restaurants - as their dad ducks the law and their
stepmother left for another country
Time To Pay
The Marchamo
Monday November 15 at 8:00am, the
Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), will begin it's annual
collection the payment of the "marchamo" for the country's
registered 808.360 vehicles.
This year the marchamo or the right to circulate a vehicle on public
roads for 2005 will not increase very much from last year. The
insurance portion of the cost of the marchamo will stay the same, as
most of the other costs that include, payment to the Consejo de
Seguridad Vial, PANI and a municipal tax.
Also, this is the time when the government is able to collect any
unpaid traffic fines imposed against the vehicle, including parking
fines. Traffic fines against the driver are collected on license
renewal if the driver has not paid.
The marchamo can be paid at any bank or insurance office authorized
to collect the payment and is due not later than December 31, 2004.
After that date, there will be a grace period for payment, though
interest will be charged. After the grace period, drivers will face
a ¢20.000 colones fine for driving without the marchamo and the
possible impounding of the vehicle.
To renew your marchamo, you will be required to present the
vehicle's registration and the Riteve vehicular inspection
certificate and the appropriate payment.
If paid early, the whole process is done in minutes. Come the last
week in December, the traditional period for most, the lines can be
long and can take as much as an hour or more to pay.
An example of the costs for this year's marchamo are:
- 1989 Jeep Cherokee - ¢39.621 (us$87.65)
- 1992 Nissan - ¢34.341 (us$75.91)
- 2004 Nissan - ¢234.861 (us$519.60)
- 1999 Adly Scooter - ¢39.155 (us$86.62)
If you want to know how you are to pay on your vehicle(s), you can
call the the INS at 800MARCHAM (800 627 6426) or go
online at
http://portal.ins-cr.com/csoa/.
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