Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, September 18,  2003

Congressman Asks for Investigation
of Tico Ambassador to Taiwan
The opposition Patriotic Parliamentary Bloc yesterday asked the Foreign Ministry to investigate the possible involvement of Egene Wu, Costa Rica's honorary Ambassador to Taiwan, in the collection of $500,000 from Taiwanese business to help finance President Abel Pacheco's campaign.
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September 18

Audio-Conference "Costa Rican Lyrical Singers"
By Luis Gustavo Lobo, at 7 p.m., Casa Italia, Los Yoses. Info: 225-3796.

Film Night
Presenting La Noche Americana (French), don’t miss it, tonight at 6 p.m. at the Contemporary Art and Design Museum, FANAL, Ca. 15, Av. 3. Info: 257-7202.

Apartamento de Soltero
Laugh along with this comedy, at 7 p.m. at Juan Santamaría Musuem, Alajuela. Info: 442-1838.

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Police Bust Insurance-Fraud Ring
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

Five suspects were arrested yesterday and one is still at large, following a morning raid by the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) on five homes and two San José bars to bust up a ring accused of defrauding the National Insurance Institute (INS) out of at least $138,000, according to OIJ director Jorge Rojas.

During the raids on the suspects' properties, police also discovered false or stolen cédulas (national identification cards), passports, bank cards and official government checks from the Ombudsman's Office, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Public Education's Loan Council and the Municipality of Montes de Oro, in Puntarenas.

Police are still investigating whether the alleged fraud ring used any of the official government checks to rob state funds.

Investigators claim the six, including one ex-employee of INS, defrauded the Insurance Institute's Pension Fund using an elaborate system of falsified documents and stolen identities. Money belonging to retirees was withdrawn from the fund by the suspects, who presented themselves as the rightful owner of the insurance claims and with false identification to support their stolen identities.

Authorities are also investigating a possible link between the accused INS scamsters and another criminal ring that was discovered earlier this week attempting to defraud the Banco Nacional of $150,000 in bogus Internet bank transfers.

Three of the suspects in the insurance fraud case are behind bars, two were granted provisional freedom from jail yesterday and one is still considered a fugitive from justice, according to Rojas.

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Pacheco Asks for Jail Time for Illegal Loggers

Abel Pacheco

President Abel Pacheco inaugurated the IV National Forestry Congress yesterday by warning that people involved in illegal logging in Costa Rica will end up behind bars, according to a Casa Presidencial press release.

The three-day annual Forestry Congress brings together businesses, environmentalists, academics and government agencies to discuss the balance between the logging industry and development, and environmental preservation.

Pacheco acknowledged that striking a balance between the logging industry and environmental protection is tricky, but necessary.

One on hand, Pacheco said, businesses depend on logging from plantations to survive. But on the other hand, he continued, Costa Rica must protect the nature that "God has given us."

"We need to limit the logging to plantations in accordance with our forestry management plan," Pacheco said, adding that no illegal logging will be tolerated in protected zones, aquifers or river basins.

"To those involved in illegal logging, cutting down trees without regard to the forestry plans, deforestation and the destruction of ecosystems in primary and secondary forests, we only have one answer: Jail," Pacheco said.

The President concluded his speech by stressing that environmental protection and business can be friends in the world of organic farming.

"The friendlier the production method is to nature, the better the market price is for crops," Pacheco noted.