Fiscalía Claims
Calderón and Reiche
Devised A Criminal Plan
The trial that has been
long awaited by former
Costa Rican president
Rafael Ángel Calderón
began yesterday, when a
few minutes before 9am,
the judges, the eight
accused and their
lawyers, and the
fiscales (prosecutors),
sat down to what is
surely to be a long
trial.
For the first day the
prosecution began the
reading of the charges
and the case against the
former president, the
former president of the
CorCorporación Fischel,
Walter Reiche and six
others in what is known
as the Caja-Fischel case
of corruption.
By the end of the day,
the prosecution finished
reading the charges and
a summary of the case
against the accused.
Prosecutors expected the
reading to take two
days, but it was
completed on the first
day.
Following a roll call to
ensure that all the
accused were present,
the head of the tribunal
Teresita Rodríguez
Arroyo, read a statement
explaining the rules of
the trial and asked for
a "rational use of the
tribunal". More than 270
witnesses are expected
to give testimony.
The fiscal, Juan Carlos
Carrillo, led the
prosecution team in
reading the, one by one,
the charges.
The prosecution contends
that Calderón Fournier
and Walter Reiche
Fischel, one with
political clout, the
other with corporate
power, devised a plot to
defraud the Caja
Costarricense de Seguro
Social (CCSS) of
millions of dollars.
Both Calderón and Reiche
headed the group that
led to the purchase of
medical equipment for
the Caja and pocketed a
healthy profit from the
deal. The prosecution
contends that the
purchased equipment was
unnecessary and of
little use to the
hospitals.
The prosecution contends
that once it was known
that the government of
Finland was prepared to
extend Costa Rica a
multi million dollar
loan, the idea was
brought to the then head
of the PLN legislators,
Eliseo Vargas (also
accused), who later
became president of the
CCSS.
The $32 million dollar
loan, then extended by
another us$7 million,
was approved during the
1998-2002
administration.
Once the approval was
received, the other
accused, including,
Gerardo Bolaños Alpízar,
Juan Carlos Sánchez
Arguedas, both CCSS
officials at the time,
entered the picture that
awarded the contract to
Medical S.A, represented
by the Corporación
Fischel, headed by
Reiche.
The prosecution says it
aims to prove how
Calderón and Reiche met
to discuss how the 5%
commission on the deal
will be paid out and how
the other accused all
received payment for
taking part in the
fraud.
Calderón, facing the
news cameras at the end
of the day's session,
reiterated his
innoncence that the case
is fraught of problems
and inconsistencies on
the part of the
prosecution and that he
will be vindicated with
a not guilty verdict in
the end.
For his part, Walter
Reiche evaded the media. |
