by Rod Hughes

Convicted confidence man Arnoldo Rodríguez enjoyed his freedom as a fugitive for 25 years after a conviction in Boron, California, for defrauding a Salt Lake City, Utah, jeweler of $120,000. But Monday a Costa Rican judge ordered a year preventive detention on four local counts of–what else?–fraud.

The 69-year-old Costa Rican went over the wall at a minimum security federal prison on Dec. 6, 1982, not long after beginning his four-year sentence. The authorities in California apparently thought his fleeing the country was good riddance, because they did not exactly break their necks to apprehend Rodríguez. His presence in this country was an open secret among veteran journalists here and he was often sighted in Escazu.

Rodríguez is charged with having sold the same beach hotel at Naranjo de Paqueraq in Puntarneas province to two foreigners at the same time. Amy Sher alleges that she paid Rodriguez a $70,000 down payment and another $50,000 to “formalize her credit.” But Canadian Dean Paquette said he shelled out $25,000 to make a deal on the same hotel.

Another charge in which Rodriguez’s son is also implicated was the purchase of a luxury Mercedes Benz sedan for which the buyers issued a check on July 5, 2006, for $50,000 The next month, Costa Rican, U.S. and Grand Cayman banks notified the sellers that the documents the Rodriguezesused in the deal appeared false.

Termed by the U.S. Department of Justice in the early 1980s as “a notorious international swindler,” Rodríguez once was riding high in Costa Rica banking circles with his Grupo Proim, a financial combine including the Latin American Bank, which collapsed in 1977, losing millions for its investors. At the time, a Tico Times reporter, trying to pin down the personable, bland Rodriguez, asked directly, “But why did the bank fail?” and was answered with an airy explanation that “we borrowed short and loaned long.” No charges were ever filed in that failed venture.

The “ex-banker” was also implicated in a dubious business project with two U.S. fugitives named Randal Rudd and Vincent Carrano but Rudd was extradited and the latter fled the country. After that he dabbled in banking in the Caribbean before running afoul of banking laws there and then went on the the United States. He was finally sentenced to four years in California “country club” prison where he resided–briefly.

by Rod Hughes

Costa Rica’s number one prosecutor, the equivalent of the U.S. Attorney General, announced this week that he will try for another four-year term of office. Francisco Dall’Anese already has made his place in Costa Rican history as the man who indicted two expresidents, Rafael Angel Calderon and Miguel Angel Rodriguez, for allegedly taking bribes.

Dall’Anese tried for the post of judge two years ago, but the court vetoed his attempt, possubly due to his prosecution of two Social Christian Unity presidents. The Costa Rican Supreme Court is self-contained, neither submitting candidates for judge to balloting by the electorate nor the top spots by Executive Branch appointment over seen by congress, as is done in the United States.

Instead, the full roster of judges votes on candidates for the top prosecutor post. Dall’Anese is placing his confidence in going after organized crime this time. He feels that this should be the top priority for the next four years, as well as strnegthening the police agencies in the country.

As for the pending cases against the two expresidents, he feels he should not base his candidature on just two high profile cases, he told the daily Al Dia. But certainly these two cases alone focused not only the attention of a nation but of the world on the nation’s top prosecuting attorney.

by Rod Hughes

Remember the Egyptian businessman accused of dumping the excrament from his 2,000 dairy cows into the river from which two sizeable towns take their drinking water for the past three years? (See newsfeed #1384) Welll, it appears he wasn’t quite candid with the Costa Rican Immigration authorities when he came to this country.

Granted, when Mohamed Ibrahm Elghanam, 45, applied for residency in 2002, he presented a document that said he had no criminal antecedents in his native Egypt, which may or not be true, he failed to mention something: Before coming to Costa Rica he had lived in the United States where, according to the newspaper La Nacion, he was convicted of four felonies, defaulting 14 court-ordered payments and took out bankruptcy three times. Little details like that.

Since coming to this country, Elghanam has been a busy little boy: He bought several farms including the one in Coronado accused of polluting the Rio Macho upriver from the Water and Sewer Institute’s (AyA) water intake for both Tibas and Moravia. He created 11 bearer-share corporations and has a dozen lawsuits against him. And now Immigration director Mario Zamora has asked his department do do plenty of digging into how Elghanam obtained his residency.

The dairy was found to be endangering water quality for more than 60,000 persons and was ordered closed by the Coronado Municipality and the Ministry of Health but the Egyptian allegedly tore down the seals and went right on with the operation. The Environmental Ministry is now preparing criminal action against him for defiance of court orders, allegedly using falsified doctuments, endangerment of public health and natural resources. But, other than that, he has been an absolute Boy Scout during his Costa Rican residency.

Last August, San Jose’s Second Circuit Court ordered the dairy closed again but Elghanam appealed. Last week, the courts rejected the appeal. Now it is time for the Environment Ministry lawyers to file criminal accusations.

As for his three counts of writing bad checks in Florida and the other pesky details he failed to tell Immigration about, the Egyptian breezily told La Nacion that he didn’t understand the question because of his bad Spanish. Asked by reporters about the three unfinished structures on the Coronado property he told them equally as breezily that he intends to build a treatment plant for the tons of ordure produced by the cows. Sometime.

Although all the cows are female, the authorities might well call his excuses bulls–t.

by Rod Hughes

When the mighty Alajuela soccer juggernaut has trouble making its way to a victory over the Univesity of Costa Rica. things are misfiring badly. But, “twas so yesterday in a game so lackluster it deserved to be televised in black and white.

To get through this briefly, let’s recap the scoring: Cristian Oviedo put Alajuela into the lead on a penalty kick after half an hour of uninspiring play and this was evened up by UCR’s Reynaldo Parks on a pnealty early in the second half. Alajuela won it on Cristian Montero’s goal.

UCR’s Jose Sanchez who came in at 46 minutes as a substitute managed to rack up yellow cards and get himself sent off by minute 75 while the team’s physical trainer Guillermo Lizano got a red card as well. But at least they gave fans something to remark about.

Other results Sunday: Here’s a real stunner—Brujas of Escazu 2, Saprissa 1. Saprissa’s midfielder Walter Centeno was old reliable again, but goals by D. Jimenez made his effort futile.

Heredia managed to back into the overall leadership it recently lost by tying San Carlos. Goals by Heredia’s Diaz and the Northern Warrior’s Hurtado. Goals by Chinchilla and Campos gave Santos the win over Perez Zeledon’s single goal by Gonzalez. Puntarenas and Carmelita tied it 1-1 on goals by Barbosa for the former and Diach for the latter.

And on Saturday, Liberia (of all people) massacred Puntarenas 4-0. Goals by Remy and Aleman and two for Siunsing kept the fans interested, although if the game had lasted a few more minutes, the water boy might have made one, too…

by Rod Hughes

Everyone gripes about inflation in Costa Rica, but families are currently spending more proportionate income than they have in 10 years, thanks to a slowed inflation rate (partially fueled by a real estate boom that shows no sign of flagging.) The daily La Nacion reports that the retail commercial upsurge began two years ago.

The sale of imported goods, reports the paper, is currently at $1.7 billion, larger than the project foreing investment for the year. Purchases of such items as food, clothing and vehicles has shot up 29% over the same period last year. The highest increases of import sales are medicines and beauty aids, autos, machinery and home appliances, even down to microwave ovens and hair dryers.

According to Banco Central, the country’s financial regulator, the commercial sector has increased by 5.5%, a hike only exceeded by 1998 when it jumped 6.29%. The bank expects by the end of the year consumer spending will have increased 6%.

Specifically, the factors the bank sees as contributing to this happy situation, besides slowed inflation, are more jobs and higher salaries, easier loans and low interest and a robust consumer confidence that belies all the complaints about high prices. By July of this year 10% more (114,000) workers were registered with Social Security, indicating an increase in formal working situations. This is the highest in four years.

The drop in interest rates by nearly half of what they were last year has also heated the economy by making more income available to families. Optimistic retailers of all kinds are looking forward to the holiday season when the mandatory Christmas bonus fills wallets.

by Rod Hughes

If your taste runs to nature without glittering hotels, casinos or celebrity nightlife, La Cangreja National Park is for you. As profiled by a recent issue of The Tico Times, this is the nation’s newest national park, five years old with miles of well-marked hiking trails.

It is less than three hours by car (four-wheel-drive helpful but not essential) from the capital and an hour from the central Pacific coast. The park itself has no beaches but contains rivers, waterfall, waterfalls, primary rainfoest, wildlife and, among the thousands of species of plants, two exist only in the park.

At only 5,500 acres, it is not the largest park but features a hard climb to the top of a 4,700 ft. tall peak that rewards the hiker with a view that includes the ocean. As explained by writer Carol Marujo, the area has a rich Indian history including its own legend about a warrior standing up to a huge crab and subduing it to become a rock landmark. (The park’s name is Spanish for female crab and the tale is told on the Web site www.lacangreja.com )

Dining and rustic accommodations are available at a fascinating organic cacao farm that can only be contacted through e-mail: billyenfrance@hotmail.com

by Rod Hughes

President Oscar Arias returned from his diplomatic trip to mainland China with his shopping bags bulging with cash for his country. Besides talking his hosts out of $20 million in immediate aid for victims of the disastrous September flooding, he received $27 million in longer-term projects.

But the list of goodies did not end there. Besides laying the groundwork for possible trade pacts, Arias and his host, strongman Hu Jintao also inked a contract with the Chinese Petroleum Corp. to refurbish and expand this country-s Recope Refinery at Limon. The refinery is getting long in the tooth, having been bought from Allied Chemical by president Jose “Don Pepe” Figueres decades ago in a flurry of nationalizations.

One hope for this trip was that China might buy up part of Costa Rica’s national debt, but so far no official word came from it. The morning daily La nacion has quoted Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz as saying that China might begin buying debt bonds as soon as early next year but probing by the English-language weekly The Tico Times was unable to turn up any confirmation.

For the president, the trip probably serves as sweet recompense for the wave of criticism that lapped at his feet five months ago when his government severed longtime ties with Taiwan in order to establish diplomatic relations with mainland China. “Certainly now China is going to show greater interest in Costa Rica than it showed before establishing diplomatic relations…” said the president.

China is currently Costa Rica’s second largest trading partner (behind the United States) and trade is up with that country 31% already this year, something on the order of $1 billion. Coinciding with the visit, Costa Rican companies attended the huge trade fair in Canton this week and, according to the Foreign Trade Ministry, brought back $140 million in contracts for such exports as tilapia, coffee, bananas and shrimp.

Nearly all the cabinet who have anything to do with trade and foreign policy accompanied Arias. And naturally they had a day off to play tourist, visiting such sights as the Forbidden City, the imperial tomb housing hundreds of life-size terra cotta warrior statues as well as the Great Wall. It was reported that the chief executive had to beg off on the latter junket when the Achilles tendon inflamation that plagued him during the runup to the Oct. 5 CAFTA referendum flared up.

by Rod Hughes

Smile, evil-doers. You’re on candid camera!

Minister of Public Security Fernando Berrocal has announced an ambitious program to place 3,000 surveillance cameras in high-crime areas. The program will cost $18 million but Berrocal says, “This will place Costa Rica on the cutting edge of Central American security.”

To answer concerns about privacy, he was quick to point out that only screened personnel would be allowed near the tapes. But he said the photographic records, although numerous and bulky to store, would be invaluable to Judicial branch investigators, for example. And signs would be placed to say, in essence, “You’re being recorded.” Finally, after a time, the tapes would be erased.

Maintenance personnel will have to be trained. Another worry is the effects of the tropical climate, with rapid temperature changes and high humidity, has on sensitive machinery. (As anyone who owns a computer or cell phone here can attest.)

The announcement came almost simultaneously with that of New York’s similar program of massive camera installation. Although vastly more expensive and extensive in the metropolis to the north, the two law enforcement agencies have high hopes for cutting down street crime. The difference is that Berrocal’s cameras will not just be installed in the capital but also in some of the major outlying cities as well.

Although Berrocal assured the press that the cameras would be installed with safety devices and high enough to foil the sticky fingered, some, including The Tico Times editorial cartoonist in today’s op-ed pagesl, suspect the expensive equipment might be more of a temptation than a deterrant.

by Rod Hughes

They were all ready in the courtroom, the alleged victim of a nurse’s error in the administration of chemotherapy, the prosecutor, the defnse counsel, the judge, representatives of the Social Security (Caja) that administers public hospitals.. The summons had been served. Everyone was present— but the defendant.

Judge Carlos Chaves then made a slightly embarrassed declaration to the waiting group: “I have to be completely sincere with you. There’s been an error in the summons.”

It was just a teensy bureaucratic misstep: The defendant had been notified to appear in court Dec. 30, 1899.

But, never fear. Costa rican justice will be served. sometime this century…

by Rod Hughes

The Alajuela defense left the door open just a mere crack and that was enough to let one of the slipperiest strikers around, Alonso El Mariachi Solis, through late in the first half to a winning goal at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in Tibas. That was enough in this fast-moving match for Saprissa to face the second game in the regional toyurney’s semi-final. with a one-goal advantage

For dyed-in-the-wool fans of both teams (and that is the mahority of the country’s population it seems) just winning a “classic” as the matches between these two teams are term—just that is enough. That victories will lead to Cup finals at the end of the rainbow is just frosting.

Sometimes it is hard during a game of all movement to distinguish between constant attack and counterattack, the ball changing owners every few seconds, misdirected shots at the goal, to tell whether all this sturm und drang is the product or just an inability of either team to get it together for a cohesive attack or if it’s because of excellent defense. But, like last night, it makes for a match that has one on the edge of his seat. Is it our imagination or have we seen Alajuela’s midfield maneauvering much better than it was last night?

In the first half, both gtoalies had their work cut out for them. Midfielder Walter Centeno, for example, sent a shot zinging in from the near left that Alajuela’s Wardy Alfaro would not have had a prayer to stop by Centeno was a bit to the right and the ball bounced off for a heart-stopping miss. It was not until later that Andres Nunez sent in his fateful pass to Solis.

Despite Alajuela head coach Carlos Restrepo using three forwards, Saprissa’s defense held against the tactic well. Saprissa goalie Kaylor Navas was able to, if not coast, do the minimal competent job to wall off Alajuela’s attack.