Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Federal marshals arrested a Reno man on a Costa Rica warrant accusing him of fraud.
Rudy Hernandez Gomez, 32, was taken into custody at his Stead home, booked into Washoe County Jail and is a permanent legal resident employed as a delivery driver, marshals said.
According to Costa Rican authorities, Gomez was president of a company from October 1997 to November 1998 and allegedly forged documents to show his company was exporting goods so he could claim the corresponding Costa Rican tax credits. Gomez allegedly reported at least 10 fictitious shipments of goods in order to fraudulently obtain $367,700.00 from the Costa Rican Central Bank.
Authorities said Gomez came to the United States in January 2001. Arraignment was scheduled today.
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Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Citibank finalized its fusion with Banco Cuscatlán and Banco Uno in Costa Rica this week, and the two absorbed banks will now operate under the name Citi.
The merger creates one bank in Costa Rica with a net worth of more than $100 million, and total assets of more than $750 million, the daily La Nación reported.
In addition, Citi now has 500 ATM machines in Costa Rica, 67 branches and 80,000 clients.
Citibank acquired Grupo Financiero Uno in October 2006 and Cuscatlán the following December.
The banks were closed early in the week as the companies completed the merger.
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Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Prices increased 16.3 percent in the past 12 months, breaking a 10-year inflation record set in September.
Prices for food and nonalcoholic drinks increased by 26.7 percent over the 12 months ending in October, while transportation increased by 20.4 percent, and restaurant food increased by 19.5 percent, according to a monthly report by the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) released yesterday.
The institute measures inflation using a basket of 292 goods and services. In October, 72 percent of the basket’s contents increased in price, while 18 percent decreased and 10 percent stayed the same.
The goods and services that most contributed to an October inflation of 1.04 percent were water, taxi fares, potatoes, tomatoes and the casado, a popular Tico dish that includes rice, meat, beans and salad.
As salaries fail to keep pace with inflation, more Costa Ricans are slipping over the poverty line. An INEC study released late last month showed that 17.7 percent of households were poor in July 2007, up from 16.7 percent 12 months earlier.
During those 12 months, real salaries grew just 0.3 percent for employees of private firms, and they shrunk by 1.2 percent for domestic servants. State employees saw their real wages grow by 4 percent.
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