FISCHEL-CAJA:
Scandal Reaches Finland
The corruption scandal that has hit Costa Rica for some time touched Finland, the source fo the credit loan. In Helsinki, government functionaries rejected publications in the Costa Rican press insinuating the deviation of funds in the multi million dollar credit to the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS).

Today's Stories: Scandal Reaches Finland ICE to Lose Money on Cancelled Cellular Contract 71% of Ticos Feel Poor BCR Lowers Interest Rates Offshore Betting Operation Calls On US To Legalize Industry, Did You Know?

Meeting your twin for the first time can be an emotional experience. On Costa Rican roads, according to Ministry of Tranport officials, it is a common occurrence. We are referring to the twinning of "taxis" and cars. The other night the driver of the taxi TSJ 2979 got a surprise when he spotted another taxi with the same plates. Following a short chase and with the help of other taxi drivers, he caught up with his "twin" and following a close inspection by Transport officials, the "twin" taxi had every detail down to a T, including the Riteve sticker and the VIN and motor number. Transit officials say they have detained many taxis and personal vehicles that have had their identification altered and circulating with falsified documents.

Did you Know? The Scarlet Macaw (Ara Macao) is a monogamous bird. It is said to have only one partner in life.

Government functionaries say that they approved the US$32 million dollars credit loan - without interest - to Costa Rica, which they later added another US$7 million dollars, however, no commissions were paid on the funds.

Juhani Toivonen, director for the Exterior Ministry in Finland told AFP that:

"I don't know exactly what happened in Costa Rica. We approved a line credit for $32 million dollars for the purchase of medical equipment on the part of the Costa Rican public health system."

A spokesperson for Instrumentarium Medical in Helsinki, the company that had received the contract to complete the sale of the equipment and that made the Corporacióon Fischel it's exclusive representative in Costa Rica, said that:

"Instrumentarium has faith in the Costa Rican project. All the equipment has been delivered as approved by our client. Training on the equipment and service and guarantees have been fulfilled as agreed to based on the terms and conditions of the contract.

This project has been completed in a satisfactory manner and all contractual obligations fulfilled. All payments have been made based on the terms of the contract, including the services of our distributor partner (Fischel)."

Instrumentarium added to it's comments, that they will prefer not to comment any longer on this case since there is an ongoing investigation and do not want to interrupt that process.

We will get them
Meanwhile, agents of the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), the Fiscalia (prosecutor's office) and the Ministerio de Hacienda (Revenue) continued to box documents and records at the main offices of Fischel in downtown San José, with the intent to remove them from the hands of the Corporación and to be reviewed by officials.

One Hacienda official, who refused to have his name published, told us that "we will get them." The agent was referring to a possible evasion of taxes on the commissions earned by Fischel on the deal.

Vargas family to move out
In another related incident, a judge has ordered that the family of former CCSS president Eliseo Vargas, who is currently a guest of the Costa Rican penal system, have 48 hours to move out of the luxurious home that is owned by the Corporación Fischel and rented by Vargas.

The order to complete a request by the prosecutor who is confiscating the house while the Fischel-Caja investigation continues. The property will be in the hands of the Attorney's General office pending the outcome of the case.

ICE to Lose Money on Cancelled Cellular Contract
According to ICE - the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad - the telecommunications monopoly, it will lose some ¢80.000.000.000 colones in the 2006 due to the cancellation announced yesterday of the Ericsson contract to supply 600.000 new GSM cellular Lines.

The Contraloría General de la República (Comptroller's office) found problems with the contact following speculation that the former manager of ICE met with officers of Ericsson Costa Rica in Europe in a secret meeting and charges by competitors that the deal was rigged.

ICE does not have sufficient cellular telephone lines to meet the demands as Costa Ricans choose to obtain a cellular telephone while waiting, up to years, for a telephone line in their home.

The 600.000 cellular lines that were to be installed by Ericsson will not only leave the institution with a financial loss, but thousands of cellular customers will also suffer, as they cannot connect to the network.

Currently, Costa Rica, operates two cellular networks - TDMA and GSM.

The new lines would have brought to Costa Rica the new generation of GSM that would have included more services, like sending and receiving photos and internet access.

Customers with GSM cellular telephones will have to wait as ICE decides on a new petition to award a new contract for the service. There are no GSM lines available and the small number of TDMA lines left may be used up by the end of the year.

Costa Ricans a few year back had to wait months to get cellular service. A customer had to make request at ICE and then had to wait for the news to be published in the local newspapers announcing the availability of lines depending on the number given the customer at the time of the request.

Some insiders at ICE say that this may be the case again real soon.

The demand for cellular service spiraled when ICE could not fill the demand for "fixed" lines quickly enough and the Contraloria reduced the deposit guarantee from ¢60.000 colones (amost $200 when cellular service was introduced) to ¢25.000 colones to the present ¢12.5000 colones.

To obtain cellular service in Costa Rica, a customer needs to present a cedula - permanent or residency - a copy of the receipt for the purchase of the telephone and the deposit guarantee. Within minutes a customer can walk out with their telephone working.

And, according to numbers released by ICE, who is attempting to better it's service anticipating an influx of competition in the coming years with the signing of the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S.,  the cost for using cellular service in Costa Rica is the lowest in Central America.

The basic service costs ¢2.920 colones that includes 60 minutes of call time. Each minute thereafter costs ¢38 colones during peak times and ¢23 colones from 7pm to 7am. There is no charge for receiving calls at any time.

In contrast, according to ICE, cellular service in Guatemala costs ¢44.8 per minute, in El Salvador ¢58.26, Panama ¢62.5, Nicaragua ¢134.45 and in Honduras ¢85.15 colones.

Costa Rica is third in cellular consumption of the list of countries of the world that have cellular service. The average use is 286 minutes per month per user.

71% of Ticos Feel Poor
A poll by the Instituto de Estudios Sociales en Población (Idespo) de la Universidad Nacional (UNA) shows that 71% of Costa Ricans feel they live in poverty, while another 19% feel vulnerable due to the economic conditions the country if facing.

Poverty to most of those polled is qualified as the lack of jobs, filling the basic needs of feeding the family, a home, proper clothing and lack of money in their pockets.

Idespo called by telephone on 800 people in the Metropolitan Area (San José) between June 17 and July 1.

BCR Lowers Interest Rates
The Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) yesterday announced a lowering of interest rates on personal and small business loads. The lower rates will included loans on homes and building lots.

Víctor Emilio Herrera, president of the board of directors and Carlos Fernández, general manager, of the BCR also said that new discounts will be available to the dairy sector and for loans on new and used cars.

The new interest rate for personal loans will be 20.50%, down from 24.25%. Small business loans will see the rate drop to 18.25% (down 1.75%) and rates for loans on homes, building lots of remodeling of homes will be 18.75%, down 1%.

New car loans will see a rate of 14.25% for the first six months and then 19.25% for the balance of the term.

The BCR hopes it can increase it's loan portfolio by 22% by offering lower rates on loans.

Offshore Betting Operation Calls On US To Legalize Industry,
By Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com

Speaking during a four city US tour which aims to stimulate debate and dialogue regarding online gambling in the United States, chief executive of BetonSports, David Carruthers called last week for the legalization of the industry for US consumers.

Currently, the practice of internet gambling is illegal in the US under the Wire Act, and the government has employed all sorts of tactics in order to stem the increasing interest in online betting, including pressuring credit card companies not to honor payments to such websites, and urging broadcasters and publishers not to run adverts for internet gambling firms.

However, speaking to reporters in Washington last Wednesday, Mr Carruthers explained that despite the ban, the majority of BetonSports' customers are American, and observed that:

"We'd love to create jobs and pay taxes in the United States. The government is losing an opportunity to generate enormous revenue. There's more than $100 billion bet on the streets of the United States every year."

The head of the Costa Rica-based online betting company went on to add that: "The internet offers tremendous opportunity for regulation. The more information you have, the better job you can do."

He concluded: "As an emerging form of entertainment, online gambling is growing exponentially and is here to stay in the US. Efforts in Congress to develop legislation have stalled and are otherwise polarizing people. The Department of Justice's approach is also counterproductive."