CIMA Hospital in San Jose is often visited by medical tourists

A slippery United States citizen of Persian ancestry claims that his health is rapidly deteriorating as he awaits trial in Costa Rica, and he is planning international demonstrations to call attention to his plight.

Cyrus Anoushirvan Sepher, a Southern California resident in his early 50s, has been remanded to the San Sebastian prison since September 2015, where he is awaiting trial on a series of real estate fraud charges adding up to more than $10 million; however, his attorney has explained that the defendant may not make it to the next hearing on February 2nd.

As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Mr. Anoushirvan Sepher spent months at the upscale CIMA Hospital in Escazu, where he was being assessed and treated for a debilitating condition related to a post-poliomyelitis syndrome. While at the hospital, the defendant filed numerous court petitions to allow him to stay there indefinitely, an effort that culminated in a court order to return to prison and await trial; however, weeks later a newspaper in Nicaragua reported that:

[…] the Iranian-American absconded from CIMA Hospital under the cover of darkness as Christian faithful in Costa Rica were preparing to observe Good Friday. Law enforcement reports indicate that the suspected defrauder somehow obtained a policeman’s uniform, which he wore even as officers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, started their pursuit. It so happens that the fugitive was once married in Costa Rica to a woman from Nicaragua, and thus he was able to get enough paperwork to head to that country.

Once in Nicaragua, the absconder made a beeline for the U.S. Embassy in Managua, where he obtained a passport with the intention of eluding capture by Central American law enforcement; nonetheless, judicial agents in Costa Rica had already transacted an INTERPOL red notice, similar to the one filed against Paul Watson, the Canadian founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Despite being able to get a passport in Nicaragua, he was nabbed just as he was heading to the airport. The defendant was promptly taken to Peñas Blancas without the need for extradition since he entered Nicaragua under false pretenses and even attempted to bribe an immigration officer.

While in the San Sebastian prison, the defendant filed a petition to the Constitutional Chamber, Costa Rica’s highest court, claiming that he could not stay in jail another day due to this ailing health. The high court ruled in his favor, but neither the Ministry of Health nor the Ministry of Public Security have complied with the ruling, claiming that the defendant’s condition is not really that bad.

According to a recent news report filed by Alexander Mendez of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the consular section of the U.S. Embassy has sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about their concerns on this matter. The defendant has organized a series of demonstrations to take place in Berlin, Los Angeles, Tampa, and San Jose to complain about the treatment he is getting in Costa Rica.

Those who claim to have been defrauded by the defendant include U.S. expats and citizens of Costa Rica.