The former president of Costa Rica Guillermo Solís was accused of having harmed the public treasury during his administration (2014-2018), the Attorney General’s Office informed on Thursday.
The former president (2014-2018) was charged with “influence against the Public Treasury”.
The charges are based on the influence allegedly exercised by Solis to “transfer money from the National Treasury to Bancrédito (Banco Crédito Agrícola de Cartago), without technical support and with an extremely low possibility of return, with the intention that the bank would appear to have a sufficient liquidity index”, as indicated by the Deputy Prosecutor for Probity, Transparency and Anticorruption (Fapta).
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, this “maneuver” would avoid the intervention of the bank “due to the serious liquidity problems it was facing” and that the image of the Solís government would be damaged.
“I categorically reject the charges against me. From the government of the republic, we always acted in accordance with the law, seeking the benefit of the country, as well as the protection of Bancrédito’s creditors and the rights of its workers”, said the former president through a video posted on his Twitter account.
Bancrédito was a State entity for commercial purposes that ended up going bankrupt in July 2017, under the Solís administration, after years of losses and poor results.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office also accused former Vice President and former Minister of Finance Helio Fallas, former Minister of the Presidency Sergio Alfaro, former National Treasurer Martha Cubillo and former National Deputy Treasurer Mauricio Arroyo of the same crime.
“The actions of the accused persons resulted in an affectation to the Public Treasury and the public interest,” said the Prosecutor’s Office.
The five accused could be sentenced to between two and eight years in prison, according to the Penal Code.
