2023-08-17 05:14:09
Costa Rica
Suspicions of illegal financing of the presidential party
An investigation has been opened once morest President Rodrigo Chaves and his foreign minister, local media reported.
PostedAugust 17, 2023, 7:14 AM
Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves at the 2023 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on January 18, 2023
REUTERS
Costa Rica’s Public Ministry has opened an investigation into President Rodrigo Chaves and Foreign Minister Arnoldo André for alleged “illegal funding of political parties”, according to local media on Wednesday. The investigation concerns “an alleged parallel electoral financing structure of the ruling Social and Democratic Progress Party (PPSD)” during the 2022 election campaign that led Mr. Chaves to the presidency, the newspaper La Nación said, citing the Parquet as a source. In addition to the president and the head of diplomacy, the deputy and president of the PPSD, Luz Mary Alpizar, is also targeted by the investigation. In this context, the Public Ministry raided Wednesday the offices of the law firm Lexincorp in San José, of which the Minister of Foreign Affairs is a founding partner.
Up to 4 years in prison
The Costa Rican Penal Code provides for penalties ranging from two to four years in prison “for anyone who raises funds for a political party, without having been authorized by the treasurer of the party”. This investigation is the third opened once morest Mr. Chaves in a month. On August 1, the prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the president’s involvement in alleged “influence peddling.” The case was opened following a complaint from banker Leonel Baruch, president of the BCT Corporation and board member of CR Hoy, a digital media outlet critical of Mr Chaves. On July 17, the prosecution had also begun to investigate the president for “abuse of power”, having allegedly “exerted influence on the public treasury”.
(AFP)
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