ICE Employees Defraud Institution
Two employees of the state telecommunications monopoly, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), who worked with cellular phones in the San Pedro officers were detained by officials of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), for allegedly committing fraud against the institution for more than ¢480 million colones (us$900.000).

Police say that the men, identified only by their last names, Vargas Madriz and Chávez Piedra, would use false identification and stolen cellular phones to connect to the cellular network.

The pair would then sell the services to foreigners - mainly Colombians, Panamanians and Dominicans - to make international calls, running up thousands of dollars of charges that would never be paid, since the owners of the cellular lines could not be located. ICE was then forced to liquidate the line, recover only ¢12.500 - the initial deposit - and bear the charges accumulated through the fraud.

Orlando Cascante, director of Servicios Celulares at ICE, said the investigation had been ongoing for about 18 months. The men would use identification of indigents who sold the ICE employees their "cedulas" (identification), utility bills to prove permanent residency and a copy for the purchase of the equipment, all requirements to obtain cellular service.

In addition to raiding the offices of the two workers, the OIJ alos raided two "compra y ventas" (pawn shops) in San José as well as three homes in La Unión de Tres Ríos and Hatillo.

Investigators found that the men would buy cellular phones from the compra y ventas, phones that had been reported stolen and used the false identification to obtain service. Once the cellular phones were activated, they were then sold for an unspecified amount and then used to make international calls until the service was cut for non-payment.

Police say that the owners as well as the employees of the compra y ventas are also tied to the fraud, though no details were provided.