Cementazo case of fraud against the government advances


	Published Monday, February 17, 2020 Cementazo case of fraud against the government advances By the A.M. Costa Rica staff The Specialized Unit of the Office of the Attorney General announced Friday the last step before opening an accusation against nine people for the case known as Cementazo-Banco Popular. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the suspects were investigated for allegedly committing the crimes of fraud against the public treasury, meaning the government. The case is against those well known in the media, Juan Carlos Bolaños-Rojas and his wife, surnamed Suárez-Aguiar. Also, known are seven more men with surnames Cortés-Zúñiga, Rojas-Segura, Thompson-Camacho, Gómez-Barrantes, Delgado-Negrini, Bogantes-Brenes and Arias-Silesky. According to the Prosecutor's Office, they are now in the stage of presenting to the affected parties, the current authorities of the Banco Popular and the government, details about the accusation. Then, the purported victims will have three days to indicate if they agree to open a parallel civil action to claim compensation for the damages suffered. After this process, the Prosecutor's Office will send the accusations to the Criminal Court of Finance to seek a preliminary hearing before the judge with all the parties related. In that view, the Prosecutor will request the order to open the trial, and the judge will decide if the trial will be continue or be dismissed. According to the information provided by the prosecutor, the suspects would have directed actions aimed at damaging the patrimonial interests of the government through the opening of a $5 million credit line granted to the company named Inmobiliaria del Grupo JCB to import and selling cement from China. The defendant Juan Carlos Bolaños is the owner of that company. Apparently, some of the Banco Popular employees analyzed and recommended that credit, although prosecutors claim they knew that the company did not have sufficient capacity to meet payment obligations. That is, it is alleged that the company had no ability to payback the money. According to the prosecutor, the investigation shows that, allegedly bank employees Bogantes and Gómez, together with Bolaños, agreed to be business partners in the sale of cement imported from China while the credit analysis and approval were being processed. in the bank. "Also, the analyses show that with the money from the loan from Banco Popular, no cement was imported," said the prosecutor its statement. This is the second government bank where Bolaños-Rojas is investigated by alleged fraud. The Cementazo case is a political scandal of suspicion of corruption that was revealed by the media in 2017. A loan of $31.5 million from the Bank of Costa Rica to Bolaños was denounced for irregularities. The investigations have uncovered an alleged case of influence peddling and questions the employer's relationship with members of the government, including deputies, the Supreme Court of Justice authorities and the presidency, as well as members of different political parties. In summary, the bank loaned Bolaños $31.5 million in November 2015 to import cement from China after bank managers changed regulations and the Ministry of Economy also made changes to favor Bolaños. Bolaños was arrested in November 2017 and detained until May 2019 when a judge ordered him placed on house arrest while the investigations continue. According to the attorney general, Emilia Navas-Aparicio, "it is a complex case, not only because of the number of suspects but of the type of corruption that is being investigated and because it involves the government authorities." "The people may be sure that the case is getting plenty of attention, adequately being addressed, and processed. We had to work day and night to recover time that had been lost by the inaction of the past," said Navas. Currently, the Attorney General's Office is investigating $36 million that appears to be refunds of money made in 46 transactions. The General Prosecutor's Office reported the opening of 22 criminal cases along with the investigation of 50,000 files. Additionally, judicial agents have requested five operations with raids in 14 sites, 18 seizures with their respective analysis and 70 interviews with witnesses. ------------------------------ Should the Attorney General's Office speed up the investigation due to the huge amount allegedly fraud to the government? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com

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