U.S. Seniors Defrauded From Costa Rica
Three Americans and two Canadians were in the hands of Costa Rican police yesterday following a raid on a number of homes in Costa Rica while at the same time authorities in California, the FBI was taking into custody another five, all forming a group that operated from Costa Rica since 2003, charged with fraud involving some us$20 million dollars.

In Costa Rica, more than 160 officials (police, prosecutors and judges) were involved in the operation that resulted in the arrest of three Americans: Martín Kalchstein, Bryan Wall Coyle, Michael Atilio Mangarella and the Canadians: Herman Kankrini and Giuseppe Pileggi.

In a simultaneous action, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested five people, however the names were not released by press time.

The arrests yesterday were only the tip of the iceberg, officials say, as they expect to arrest another 15 members of the group for a total of 25 arrests once the investigation is complete.

One person topping the Costa Rican list of wanted is Jorge Castro, a Costa Rican lawyer who is believed to be the head of the Costa Rican side of the operation. Castro has at least 70 charges pending, including money laundering, fraud and conspiracy.

The raids were effected on homes in Guayabo de Curridabat, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, Vargas Araya, Pavas, Sabanilla, Rohrmoser and Escazú. Police found between us$4 to us$6 million dollars in cash in the luxurious homes, which for the most part were used a "call centres". Agents of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) also confiscated computers and banking records of the accused that will help investigators determine the extent of the fraud and the loss to the victims.

In the United States, the group would obtain personal information on their intended victim (name, social security, address, telephone, etc.), including banking information. The majority of the victims are seniors. Police say that the group paid us$4 for the information that was then sent by mail to the Costa Rican office.

Using VOiP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), the victims where contacted by telephone, never knowing that the call was originating from Costa Rica. Some 200 Costa Ricans were employed at the call centres in Costa Rica to make the calls and are now under investigation.

Once the potential victim was located by telephone and the identity confirmed, the caller would tell the potential victim that he or she was form the U.S. Customs office and that they were the winners of a prize. To collect the prize they would have to deposit with 1% of the prize money to release the big winnings. The deposit would have to be made with an office locate in Costa Rica and ranged between us$5.000 and us$20.000 dollars.

Since the call appeared to come from within the United States and the call back number was a U.S. number, all possible by VOiP telephony over the internet, the victims were duped into a false sense of security.

Jorge Rojas, director of the OIJ and Francisco Dall'Anese, chief prosecutor, said in a press conference yesterday that the five suspected detained yesterday will now be extradited to the United States, either by a voluntary action or by a formal request by U.S. authorities.

OIJ director, Jorge Rojas, explained that the money would be deposited into bank accounts at private banks in Costa Rica and then sent to accomplices in the U.S.

Chief prosecutor, Dall'Anesse, added that the simultaneous action yesterday was co-ordinated directly with U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, and U.S. Attorney General, Alberto González.