Italian entrepreneur Matteo Quintavalle, the subject of several police investigations for his controversial businesses in Costa Rica, died Friday morning of apparent cardiac arrest.
Arnoldo Alpízar, communications official with the Red Cross, confirmed to TV’s Channel 7 that the Italian died at approximately 7:30 a.m. at his home in Escazú, southwest of San José, where the Red Cross arrived following an emergency call.
“The man had no vital signs and despite paramedics performing CPR procedures for several minutes, he was pronounced dead,” Alpízar said.
Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) agents raided Quintavalle’s home on Wednesday as part of an investigation into his alleged involvement in a $2 million property fraud scheme.
Agents confiscated documents related to the investigation, which began last September, and simultaneously raided 11 other locations across San José and Cartago.
OIJ agents did not arrest Quintavalle, but authorities detained two lawyers with the last names Laboranti Marchini and Vargas Solano, and a third man, Segura Barquero.
The three men allegedly appropriated properties by using fake powers of attorney to sell the properties to others.
At 8:30 a.m., the body of Quintavalle remained inside his house where his sister and other relatives awaited OIJ coroners to arrive.
