A promising alliance to investigate corruption in purchases and use of public resources in Guanacaste was formed on June 27th, during the first meeting held by nine municipal auditors along with a group from the Prosecutor’s Office of Integrity, Transparency, and Anti-Corruption.
The meeting brought together, at the same table, those within the municipalities who must monitor and report possible irregularities or acts of corruption, along with agents from the Public Ministry who can then judicially investigate these reports and eventually bring them to trial and seek sanctions against officials, politicians, or business people involved in improper actions.
The officials met at the Santa Cruz Municipality, in an initiative coordinated by José Luis Sibaja Ramírez, Assistant Prosecutor of the Adjunct Prosecutor’s Office of Integrity, Transparency, and Anti-Corruption of Santa Cruz, in collaboration with the Liberia prosecutor’s office.
On the auditors’ side, officials from the municipalities of Nandayure, Hojancha, Nicoya, Santa Cruz, Liberia, Bagaces, Cañas, Tilarán, Abangares, and the Colorado District Council participated.
During the session, new structures designed to improve coordination and communication between the different bodies were discussed, and all necessary inquiries about the procedures to follow in cases of corruption detected in local governments were addressed.
The Santa Cruz prosecutor, José Luis Sibaja, noted that this joint initiative with the municipal auditors is part of an effort to combat corruption and the misuse of public resources in the province.
“We are working on several cases that involve significant sums of money from the municipalities and analyzing the eventual responsibilities of the officials who might be involved. That is why the collaboration with local auditors is of vital importance,” prosecutor Sibaja stated.
Santa Cruz Municipality auditor Luis Bernardo Barrantes stated that training is part of a joint effort aimed at strengthening transparency and combating corruption in Guanacaste, “providing auditors with the necessary tools and knowledge to address these challenges.”
On the table are cases that could be of interest to the prosecutor’s office, such as contracts worth over ¢400 million awarded by the Santa Cruz Municipality to the former candidate for councilor of the governing party Auténtico Santacruceño (spanish acronym: PASC) in 2020, Sully María Gómez Loáiciga.
As reported by La Voz de Guanacaste, six of the contracts totaling ¢56.1 million for the production of artistic and cultural events were awarded when this retired teacher, Sully María Gómez Loáiciga, did not have a commercial patent as required by law for any provider engaging in profitable activities. Gómez also lacked prior experience in such productions.
Investments in culture raised concerns within the municipal council, which on at least three occasions requested detailed information from Mayor Jorge Arturo Alfaro Orias, but these requests were not satisfactorily addressed.
This led to the municipal council agreeing on September 17, 2023, to request that the Public Ministry investigate the alleged breach of duties by the mayor, both for failing to respond to inquiries about investments in culture and for not addressing eight other agreements.
The investigation for alleged misconduct in public office is continuing to be conducted by the Adjunct Prosecutor’s Office of Integrity, Transparency, and Anti-Corruption of Santa Cruz, under file number 23-001755-0412-PE.
Additionally, the Public Ministry confirmed that Mayor Alfaro Orias is under investigation for another four alleged crimes: abuse of authority, prevarication, influence peddling, and legislation or administration for personal gain. All investigations are currently in the stage of gathering and analyzing evidence.
The concentration of municipal contracts with a single supplier has also been evident in other local governments in the province.
The Voice revealed earlier in January that in 2023, the Municipality of Liberia awarded all public works tenders to entrepreneurs implicated in investigations for alleged bribery payments.
The company in question is Gocesa del Molino S.A., which obtained 11 contracts totaling more than ¢670 million and only shared one competition with another firm in which it participated.
The company is registered under the names of Ángel González Cerdas and María del Milagro Cerdas. They are the son and wife of Abel González Carballo, former general manager of Meco, who is under investigation in the case known as Diamante.
The Diamante case shook the municipal sector due to scandalous police recordings that revealed alleged acts of corruption involving public works tenders in the municipalities of San José, Cartago, and Alajuela.
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