Costa Rica News – The USA and Costa Rica are not much different. Election fraud has been alleged in both countries. Three Libertarian Movement leaders will soon go to trial for alleged fraud they committed against the Supreme Elections Court during the 2010 election campaign.
Ronaldo Alfaro the ex-treasurer, Róger Segura the accountant and Carlos Solano the ex-training secretary are being accused of collecting ¢209 million colones for training courses that never took place.
The Public Ministry presented the accusations last year and the district attorney’s office took over the case. The three on trial are being charged with fraud, the use of false documents and falsification of private documentation. All charges can be punished with jail time, fraud being the highest sentence of six months to 10 years. Use of false documents calls for a sentence of six months to two years and false ideology one to six years in jail.
The three leaders being charged claim to have run trainings for the 2010 Otto Guevara campaign and even have a form signed by those in attendance. It later came into the light that the signatures were collected at public events and not at the reported trainings because those never took place.
The trial date has not been established as of this time but San Jose’s Penal Court has pressed charges against the three movement leaders. The accused hope that they will have time to defend their actions and open a dialogue to resolve the issue.
