QCOSTARICA — Despite the judicial police operation, one of thirty by the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIL) this Monday morning, including the home of Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) president Marta Esquivel, she was not at home at the time.
Still, minutes before 8:00 am, she appeared voluntarily at the OIJ offices in Perez Zeledon, as confirmed by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
The rest of the board of directors was also arrested in early morning raids as part of an investigation into alleged crimes of influence against the Public Treasury, prevarication and influence peddling, stemming from the awarding of contracts last July to cooperatives for the operation of Basic Health Care Equipment (Ebáis), at an inflated cost the public health service of ¢12.4 billion colones more a year.
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The health areas awarded on July 6 are Pavas, Desamparados 2, Santa Ana, Escazú, San Francisco-San Antonio, San Pablo, Barva, Tibás, La Carpio-León XIII, and San Sebastián-Paso Ancho.
“It is presumed that the defendants annulled the purchase procedure that was ready to be published and instead instructed a new one in which they would have exercised control and, taking advantage of their positions, influenced other officials to modify the specifications in accordance with the interests of the cooperatives. This despite the fact that it was determined that the offers presented by the five entities were excessive, meaning an annual increase of more than ¢12.4 billion colones with respect to the current cost of providing the service in execution in the same health areas under equal technical conditions, that is, they would be more expensive than what the CCSS would invest if it had to assume the service,” said the prosecutor’s office in a statement.
Judicial authorities suspect that members of the board of directors held meetings with the bidders, which could have given them an undue advantage. In addition, the term of the contract for the awarded service is being investigated, since the Public Procurement Law provides for an ordinary period that cannot exceed four years, however, this was granted for 10 years.
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