According to an investigative report written by journalist Carlos Arguedas and published in today’s edition of La Nacion, prosecutors are having a hard time moving forward with their accusations against 10 individuals who seemingly went from rags to riches overnight.

Mauricio Boraschi, commissioner of the national anti-drug task force, confirmed to La Nacion that his office has all the personal information and details of the 10 individuals in question. While it is Boraschi’s intent to charge these individuals with crimes, he attempted to take advantage of a chapter in our Ley contra la Delicuencia Organizada (Law Against Organized Crime – PDF), which requires people to explain the provenance of their fortunes before the court. The idea was to help the investigation move forward once a judge concluded that the funds did not come from bona fide sources.

The plan backfired on the first attempt. The judge in the first case noticed that the law was incorrect insofar as choosing a judicial venue that no longer exists. The venues the judge is referring to ceased operating in 2006, and the case landed before him in 2010. The judge labeled the matter as constitutionally dubious and sent the case to Sala Cuarta (Constitutional Hall) for review.

Similarities with the Palidejo-Cabral Case

A similar procedure would have been  applied against Alejandro Jimenez Gonzalez, AKA “El Palidejo”, a Tico businessman currently detained in Guatemala on charges of having ordered a hit that took the life of Argentinian folk singer Facundo Cabral by accident.

La Nacion explained that, about a decade ago, Palidejo was a street grocer who sold fruits and produce. In 2009, his monetary holdings came up to $2 million. He was under investigation until Cabral’s death and his subsequent arrest.

A Matter of Judicial Venue

The case that brought the matter to light involved an accounting clerk who one day deposited $1 million in his bank account. He was under investigation and surveillance for over a year, but law enforcement agents could not find any crime to charge him with. Frustrated, prosecutors ordered the clerk’s accounts frozen and his assets confiscated.

When the case went to court, the appellate judge asked why a criminal matter was before him. In the meantime, Sala Cuarta has asked the legislature to review the contradictory law.

Should the defendant in this case wish to abandon his assets, they would be turned over to the state and used in the fight against organized crime as he walks away free.

The law is clear in its intent: to force nationals and foreigners to prove the sources of their assets. The purpose of the law was to hit organized crime with a civil proceeding where prosecutors think it would hurt the most, in their bank accounts. The problem now is that the law may have been defective since it was enacted in 2009.

Online comments left by readers of La Nacion illustrated disappointment in the legislature: “They should let the public review the laws instead of politicians.”