QCOSTARICA — Following a three-year investigation, the elections tribunal, the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), concluded that President Rodrigo Chaves, vice-president Stephan Brunner, and Foreign Minister Arnoldo André would be responsible for at least four electoral crimes.
It is presumed that the campaign that brought Chaves to power in 2022 benefited from money raised by two parallel structures that operated outside the law.
This, without the party control of Progreso Social, nor monthly reports of donors to the TSE, the campaign could have received money from donor companies or foreigners.
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One of the structures was the Costa Rica Próspera (CPR) trust and the other was Sofía Agüero’s bank account. Sofia is the daughter of legislator Waldo Agüero and coordinated Chaves’ agenda during 2021. Both could see from two to fours years imprisonment if found guilty.
The report was seized by the Public Ministry in the middle of the month.
President Chaves is mentioned as possibly responsible for committing three electoral crimes, including raising funds without authorization from the TSE. The two trusts totaled more than ¢248 million colones.
Two to six years in prison
The creation of an illegal financing structure for political campaigns could lead those responsible, in this case the President, Vice-President and Foreign Minister, to face prison sentences of between two and six years, as established by the Electoral Code in articles 275 and 276.
This punishment seeks to prevent the use of illegal mechanisms that allow the entry of funds from companies, foreigners, or illicit activities in political campaigns.
The case becomes relevant after learning that the Attorney General’s Office seized in mid-January the documentation on the alleged parallel financing structure used in the campaign.
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Attorney General Carlo Díaz previously explained that the TSE lifted banking and tax secrets as part of the investigation, and that said information is key to the investigation, so they asked the Sala III, the court attached to the Judiciary, responsible for hearing appeals and review in criminal matters, to give permission to seize the documents last Friday.
“The TSE indicated that this information was not publicly accessible. Therefore, we went to the Sala III and requested, in a reasoned manner, that it authorize us to access this private information and the seizure,” said Díaz.
A year ago, opposition legislators concluded that President Chaves was one of the “masterminds” of the two parallel financing structures, which were created in the campaign for the Partido Progreso Social Democrático (PPSD). The legislators investigated the issue for a year and four months.
The PPSD under investigation previously defended the legality of the Costa Rica Próspera trust, pointing out that it was private. They argued that Rodrigo Chaves’ candidacy was ratified on September 19, 2021, one day after the dissolution of the trust, which took place on September 18 of that same year.
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In addition, they assured that the trust liquidated ongoing contracts and returned the remainder to donors on October 8, 2021. However, the Prosecutor’s Office continues to investigate whether electoral financing laws were violated.
The investigation seeks to determine whether crimes were committed that could compromise the transparency of the electoral process and the use of resources in Chaves’ campaign.
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