By A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Prosecutor's Office in Pococí
confirmed that the Criminal Court
of Finance and Public Function
imposed precautionary measures
against Gerardo Fuentes, mayor of
Guacimo*, as
well as against the municipal
president, Manrique Mejías. Both
are suspected of influence
peddling, influence against the
public treasury, ideological
falsehood and use of false
documents.
The precautionary pre-trial
measures on both are: to sign in
with the court once a month, to
avoid having any contact with the
witnesses of the case and to face
suspension from their positions
for six months.
According to Prosecutor's Office,
another suspect, an urban
development entrepreneur surnamed
Barboza, was released without
precautionary measures.
According to the case, which was
outlined Tuesday in A.M. Costa
Rica, last Nov. 1, Barboza was
developing an urban project and
requested a permit for potable
water and sewage service from the
Public Water and Sewers Institute
of the Caribbean.
That request was rejected because
the project did not comply with
technical criteria. "Then Barboza
had apparently transferred the
property to another company to
request again the potable water
and sewage services to the Public
Water Institute," said the
Prosecutor's Office account.
According to the case, on Oct. 31
the other two suspects, Fuentes
and Mejias met an official from
the water institute "with the
apparent purpose of influencing to
obtain, improperly, the potable
water services requested before by
Barboza,” said the prosecutor's
report Also investigated is if the
documents presented to the
institute has fake information, it
added.
Evidence in the case was located
during four raids Monday. One was
at the Municipality of
Guacimo* in Limon. Another
was at the house of Fuentes. The
third was at the house of Mejías.
And the last was at the house of
Barboza.
Another recent case of a mayor
being suspected is that of Randall
Chavarria, mayor of
Puntarenas*. According to
Prosecutor's Office in Puntarenas
Chavarria was suspended without
pay for six months.
This suspension is a precautionary
measure as response of the
investigation of the mayor for
suspected crimes of breach of
duties and embezzlement of funds,
said officials. According to
Prosecutor's Office, the actions
occurred from 2015 until December
2017, the day on which the Public
Prosecutor's Office conducted a
search in different departments of
the municipality.
One of the investigations involves
the concessions at the San Lucas Beach
Club of Puntarenas*.
Prosecutors said "it is presumed
that, during the operation of the
spa, the mayor illegally used
funds to pay for water and
electricity to the company that
was installed in the place." In
December 2017, Judicial
Investigating Organization agents
raided the municipality of
Puntarenas and seized relevant
evidence for the investigation,
such as documentation, computers,
cell phones and mass storage
devices, said the Prosecutor's
Office on a statement.
The San Lucas Beach
Club of Puntarenas* was
closed in January of this year by
the Ministry of Health because it
did not have the proper operating
permits.
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A.M. Costa
Rica wire services photo
Mayor have to sign in
with the court once a
month,
to avoid having any
contact with the
witnesses of
the case and to face
suspension for six
months.
Another case of a
mayor being
investigated is that
of Marvin
Solano-Zuñiga, mayor
of Paraíso in
Cartago*. He went to a
second hearing Tuesday
before the Special
Commission of the
Province of Cartago at
the legislature.
Solano
is being investigated
for apparently approving
several urban projects
without complying with
requirements, said
investigators. In
addition, there is a
complaint of irregular
charges in the potable
water service on 55
occasions. Last
Feb. 5 judicial agents
and staffers of the
Anti-corruption
Prosecutor's Office
raided the Municipality
of Paraíso*. They
confiscated documents
that will be used as
part of the evidence of
the case. Solano has
resigned as mayor, which
becomes effective Feb.
8.
Another case involving a
major was in December
2017. The Court of San
Jose sentenced the Limon
major*, Néstor
Mattis, to pay 7,600,000
colones ($12,723) plus
23,836.93 colones for
interest ($40) for a
total of 7,623,836.93
colones ($12,763) to the
General Comptroller
Office.
The court ruled that
this debt is payable
because of an alteration
in a contract undertaken
by the municipality.
Mattis agreed to the
contract and accepted
his responsibility for
it. The comptroller
office also asked that
Mattis be suspended from
his position.
The court made a full
investigation of Mattis'
salary and holdings,
including his vehicles.
Mattis has asked the
judicial department to
make arrangements for
the payment of his debt
which he did, stating
"The Department of Human
Resources of the
municipality is
retaining biweekly for
wage garnishment the sum
of 72,338.00, for a
total of 144,676.00
monthly."
Mattis, however, is
still under
investigation by the
Comptroller Office. That
institution said at the
time that the Limón
Municipality*
management was a
"disaster the way in
which the municipality
performs budget
management and
purchasing."
According to the
comptroller report "the
municipality allocated a
significant amount of
public resources for the
period between 2016 and
2017, more than $5.6
million." The money was
used by 173 suppliers.
These purchases are
under
investigation.
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Should a mayor who is
being investigated must
resigns? We would like
to know your thoughts on
this story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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