  The suspects are being investigated for the commission of apparent acts of corruption in the processing of a case related to an expropriation of a property. - OIJ illustrative photos - |
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 Published Thursday, December 3, 2020 Court
employees and lawyers
arrested on suspicion of corruption By the A.M. Costa Rica staff On Wednesday, the Deputy Prosecutor's Office of Probity, Transparency and Anti-Corruption, ordered agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization to arrest five people suspected of committing the crime of disclosure of secrets and own bribery. According to the Public Ministry, the suspects arrested are two workers from the San José Court, surnamed Molina-Vargas and Cruz-Tenorio. Also, a third employee named Lara-Flores was arrested. An additional two attorneys surnamed Rojas - Pochet and Hernández -González, were arrested. All of them were arrested at their homes located in the provinces of San José and Heredia. According to the case, the suspects are being investigated for the commission of apparent acts of corruption in the processing of a case related to an expropriation of a property, which was being developed in the Administrative Contentious Court. An expropriation, or eminent domain, process is when a government decides to take private property for public use. In addition to the arrests, the judicial agents raided the homes and offices of the suspects, as well as offices in the Court and the Attorney General, to seize more relevant evidence for the case. The five suspects were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry where they were interrogated by the judicial agents and after that, they must wait until a judge orders pre-trial measures against them as suspected of alleged corruption. This is the second case of the detention of court employees suspects of committing a crime.  In November, a judge and court employee were arrested on suspicion of aiding people linked to drug trafficking In that case, the Prosecutor's Office ordered the arrest of two men, one is a judge surnamed Mora-Sanchez and the other is a court employee, surnamed Acevedo-Diaz, on suspicion of Painful Facilitation for Drug Trafficking Impunity, that is to say, allegedly help suspects who are linked to drug trafficking cases. According to the Prosecutor's Office report, both suspects work in the Golfito Court. They allegedly provided information to other drug trafficking suspected cases on the operations that were going to be carried out by judicial agents in the Golfito sector. The Prosecutor's Office suspects that the judge intentionally doesn't impose the pre-trial jail preventive measure to people who were detained on suspicion of drug trafficking. As part of the investigation, a significant increase in income for both officials was observed, the agents said. Allegedly the suspects received the money in exchange for cooperating with gangs dedicated to drug trafficking. The suspects' homes were raided, one located in the Bellavista community and another near the Golfito court. Also, the judicial agents raided the workplace of both suspects, to gather more information for the investigation. In addition to the suspects’ arrest, the agents seized a vehicle owned by the court employee. The two suspects were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry where a judge ordered pre-trial measures of control against them. The judicial agents call on the population to report any suspicion of corruption of public employees linked to drug trafficking to the confidential line 800-8000-645, where there are bilingual agents who can answer calls in English or Spanish. ------------------------------ What have you heard of courthouse employees being involved in corruption cases? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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