Former Costa Rican President Guillermo Solís will face trial for allegedly making irregular treasury fund transfers to prevent the collapse of a state bank during his term (2014-2018), the Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday.
“The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has secured a trial order against former President Solís Rivera and four members of his government for the alleged crime of influence against Public Finance, in the so-called Bancrédito case,” the Public Ministry stated on its X social media account.
According to prosecutors, the charges stem from Solís’s alleged influence, at age 66, 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, intending to make the bank appear to have a sufficient liquidity index.”
The Prosecutor’s Office claimed that Solís’s “maneuver” prevented the bank from being intervened “due to serious liquidity problems it faced” and protected the Solís administration’s image from damage, as stated when the investigation began in July 2023.
The Public Ministry indicated they are awaiting trial scheduling. Bancrédito, a state commercial bank, ultimately failed in July 2017 during Solís’s administration, following years of losses and poor performance.
Solís “categorically rejected” the accusation when the Prosecutor’s Office opened the investigation: “From the government of the republic, we always acted according to law, seeking the country’s benefit, as well as the protection of Bancrédito’s creditors and its workers’ rights,” he stated at the time.
