Police raid RECOPE and former Finance Minister Fernando Herrero’s private offices

The Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) on Thursday raided the headquarters of the National Oil Refinery (RECOPE) as part of an investigation of fraudulent business involving former Finance Minister Fernando Herrero and his wife, former presidential adviser Flor Isabel Rodríguez.

OIJ agents and prosecutors entered RECOPE facilities in San José and offices of the firm Procesos, founded by Herrero and Rodríguez, looking for information to determine if crimes occurred in the completion of a government contract.

Herrero and Rodríguez resigned their government posts on April 2, amid a scandal over alleged tax evasion and fraudulent negotiations with public institutions.

An investigation of local daily La Nación revealed that Herrero had undervalued properties, while the company founded by he and his wife had declared to the Tax Administration less than its actual income, allowing the couple to pay less tax.

A later scandal came when La Nación revealed that Procesos had won a contract of $34,000 with RECOPE for image and public relations managment, in a tender that “competed” with three companies engaged in the sale of construction materials.