Banco de Costa Rica Shuts Down Quintavalle Accounts
Matteo Quintavalle, the Italian "empresario" who has made the headlines during the past several weeks by buying out the contracts of soccer players, has had his bank accounts closed by the Banco de Costa Rica (BCR). The BCR said yesterday that it closed all 11 of Quintavalle's accounts.

The BCR said it based its decision on three points: the movement in his account has been higher that states; the empresario has yet to registered documents with the Sugef as requested by the bank; and has promoted incorrectly an alleged affiliation between his companies and the bank.

Quintavalle in the last weeks has purchased the contracts of 11 soccer players, including Allan Alemán, Kurt Bernard and Wilmer López. The Italian has said he is also owner of eight hotels, a restaurant, a casino and gasoline station.

The BCR said that man moved some us$10.5 million dollars during the past year, a level much higher than what he told the bank when he opened the accounts.

The major depositor to the Quintavalle accounts is said to be Christopher Coulther, who was allegedly fired from a prominent financial corporation in the United States last year and was ordered by a Orange Country, Florida, court to pay back us$500.000 to investors.

The BCR says that Quintavalle was asked to register his company with the Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras (Sugef), the superintendent of banks, as required by artícle 15 of the Ley 8204, as required when funds deposited are coming from third parties. The BCR, in its statement, said that if Quintavalle has registered, there is no record of such.

The BCR added that concerns over the amount of money being moved in the accounts and that they have not been giving sufficient information, in some cases, the origin of the funds. The BCR also added that there is no alliance between the BCR and the Depository Pacific Bank, a Quintavalle company, as alleged by the empresario and could confuse potential investors.