By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
A man surnamed Castaño-Suares, age
51, was returned to Costa Rica
Tuesday on an international arrest
warrant for fraud issued by the
Criminal Court. He is
linked to a fraud of more than
$2.3 million to the detriment of
Social Security.
He was returned to the country in
the custody of U.S. officials via
the Juan Sanatamaría
Airport* in Alajuela.
The police report shows that the
order was issued in August 2018.
Judicial agents coordinated with the
immigration authorities of the
United States to carry out the
arrest and deportation of the
suspect.
Castaño-Suares was living illegally
in Miami, a situation that made it
easier for him to be detained in
January by the immigration agents
who processed the deportation order
in approximately two months.
Upon his arrival in the country, at
11:45 am, he was received and
escorted by officers from the
Interpol National Central Office who
took him to the cells of the
Judicial District Court in San Jose,
where the officials of the Economic
Crimes Prosecutor's Office
interviewed him for the
investigation of the case.
Castaño-Suares must wait in the
cells of the Public Ministry until a
judge decides the pre-trial
precautionary measures against him.
As reported in A.M. Costa Rica on
June 11, 2014, Castaño-Suárez
is suspected of collecting invoices
for the sale of orthopedic supplies
in which the names of patients
already deceased were included along
with the names of patients from
other medical services such as
urology and ophthalmology, and
pieces of prosthetics that were not
distributed.
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According
to the case, he
apparently had a
relationship with the
patient’s medical
services providers.
The Prosecutor's
office actions said
the suspect, through
his company, collected
the money for devices
used in some 1,022
surgeries done at the
hospitals mostly in
2010 and 2011. With
those false invoices,
the suspect managed to
charge Social Security
$2,317,676.
In June 2014
prosecutors and
investigators
conducted three raids,
one in the Calderon
Guardia hospital, the
second in the Social
Security headquarters,
and the third was in
the suspect’s company
offices in Santa Ana.
Investigators sought
evidence in all those
offices.
In 2018, the
prosecutor opened a
criminal accusation
against Castaño-Suárez
but by that time he
had left the country.
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Could the suspect have
a collaborator in
Social Security who
falsified data or
Social Security was
negligent in its
controls? We
would like to know
your thoughts on this
story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
*Link
to reach the place
map.
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