Dead Man's Missing Car is Owned by Police Commander
The Fiscalía (prosecutor's office) in San Ramon, northwest of San José, is looking into allegations that the second commander of the Fuerza Pública de San Ramón, Marco Hernández Barrantes, registered the purchase of a vehicle after the owner had already died and the car had been reported missing.

The accusation is also against a lawyer identified as Barahona Segnini, who is  registered lawyer and notary number 82.

The complaint says that the Suzuki Gran Vitara was the property of North American James Kent, who died in September of 2003. However, records show that the sale was made in March of this year.

Kent's family had begun the legal process of possession following his death in 2003 and was concluded last month. The vehicle in question had disappeared from Kent's home during this time.

The OIJ was called in to investigate the case of the missing vehicle and discovered that the vehicle was in the possession of the local police commander. The national registry shows that the purchase was made this year for ¢100.000 colones (us$210) while the vehicle has a value of ¢5 million colones (us$10.500).

Police, once they located the vehicle, confiscated it from the police commander and turned it over to the family of the deceased man. Police are now investigating into the complaint against the police commander and the fact the vehicle was in his possession after it was reported missing.

In Costa Rica the transfer of ownership of a vehicle is handled by a lawyer/notary, which will make an entry into his "protocol" book and then submit the required documentation along with taxes and "timbres" to the national registry.

Both the seller and the buyer are required to sign the "protocol" before the presence of the lawyer,/notary, but that is not always the case.  There are cases, like in the death of a foreigner, a lawyer, for a fee, will take the buyer's word for the situation and banks that the deceased of his far away family will not be around to complain.

The registry verifies that the document is in order, the tax is paid and the "timbres" are attached to the paperwork. Once the verification is complete, a owners certificate is issued.