Milanés Antes Up Bail
Luis Milanés, accused of
defrauding his investors
of more than us$200
million dollars,
yesterday complied with
a court order on Friday
to post six properties
valued at us$12 million
dollars to maintain his
liberty. The court had
ordered the posting by
Tuesday, otherwise
Milanés would have to
wait out the
investigation phase of
the process behind bars.
Milanés' lawyer, Álvaro
Jiménez Acuña, yesterday
confirmed that the
guarantee was posted and
that his client was
willing to co-operate
with authorities.
Milanés operated the
high yield investment
return called Savings
Unlimited until November
2002 when the company
was closed the Milanés
disappeared, leaving
some 2.600 investors
high and dry.
Allegedly a deal was
reached between Milanés
and the Fiscalía that
would allow his return
to Costa Rica to stand
trial. However, Milanés
was detained in El
Salvador after
authorities there
detected an irregularity
with his documentation
as Milanés was
travelling using a fake
passport.
Authorities in El
Salvador alerted the
International Police
(Interpol) who took
Milanés into custody and
handed him over to Costa
Rican authorities.
Milanés said he was on
his way to Costa Rica
and that he was
travelling under an
assume name fearing for
his life, vowed his
innocence before the
waiting television news
cameras at the Juan
Santamaría (San José)
airport and said he was
returning to clear up
things.
A majority of the
investors are preferring
to negotiate with
Milanés, recovering
their losses out of
court and avoid what is
believed to be a long
drawn trial process. |
