Archive for July 28th, 2010
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Using Costa Rica as a rest stop, the two foreigners detained in Nicaragua have been clearly identified as the American couple wanted in Panama in the death of at least one U.S. woman and up to six others, Nicaraguan authorities saying on Tuesday that they would hand the couple over to Panamanian authorities.
In addition to being wanted in Panama, the F.B.I. in the U.S. say that “Wild Bill” is wanted in the United States since 2005, suspect of at least 20 killings.
Nicaraguan officials took their time after the couple was captured by the Nicaraguan army in the waters of the San Juan river after stealing a boat on the Costa Rica side and avoiding a police checkpoint.
“These are the people who are being sought by police in Panama, and they will be handed over to the authorities of that country,” National Police official Glenda Zavala said at a news conference.
The pair matched photographs provided by Panamanian authorities of William Adolfo Cortez of Texas and his wife Jane, who are being sought in the death of Lynn Hughes, Nicaraguan army spokesman Juan Ramon Morales said.
The two identified themselves as an American man and Dutch woman and gave names that did not coincide with the Panama suspects. Nicaraguan and Panamanian authorities believe they were traveling under false names.
“The photographs that we have coincide with those arrested yesterday,” Morales told The Associated Press.
Panama has been informed of the identification and has begun proceedings to seek the couple’s extradition, said Javier Carillo, the head of Panama’s investigative police.
The couple used the ruse of pretending to buy property and then killing the owners and telling neighbours that the sale was completed and the sellers moved on.
In Costa Rica they are believed to have been attempting the same ruse but their time was caught short when the owners of a house in Santa Cruz de Turrialba informed police.
When police arrived at the home the couple were gone. Costa Rican authorities also learned that the couple had rented a cabin a day or two before near the Panama border and believed they were heading north.
Faced with machine guns and other high calibre weapons used by the Nicaraguan army, the couple decided to surrender peacefully after stealing a boat on the Costa Rican side of the San Juan river and avoiding the police check point.
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Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla has ruled out the possibility of reversing a decree allowing an open-pit gold mine to resume operations near the border with Nicaragua.
Chinchilla said Tuesday that overturning the decree would mean paying $1.7 billion compensation to Industrias Infinito, the Costa Rican affiliate of Calgary-based Infinito Gold Ltd.
Chinchilla’s predecessor, Oscar Arias, signed a decree in 2008 declaring the project of national interest.
However, the project has been halted by a court battle over its legality.
Environmentalists say the area involved is part of the protected habitat of the great green macaw. They also say the project violates Costa Rica’s constitutional rules on the environment.
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Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
A Parkville man pleaded guilty Tuesday to his role in an online gambling business that attracted almost $3.6 million in bets between 2006 and 2009.
James L. Dicapo, 57, said at the hearing that the customers for whom he was responsible bet about $1.2 million during that period.
A federal grand jury charged Dicapo and three others in March with operating the Internet gambling scheme.
The charges alleged that Dicapo and others gave bettors a toll-free telephone number and access to a website where they could place their bets on sporting events. That information was routed to a business in Costa Rica that handled the transactions.
Local bookmakers, such as Dicapo, then paid or collected cash from their bettors weekly, according to court records.
Last week, Dicapo pleaded guilty in an unrelated case, admitting that from 2007 to 2009 he sold counterfeit luxury goods.
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/27/2112141/plea-in-online-gambling-case-is.html#ixzz0uz3lN6pd
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Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Cody L. Gear a veteran law enforcement investigator and now a board certified fraud examiner, sheds light on the frauds being perpetrated in Costa Rica.
Cody L. Gear has been investigating fraud and scams in Costa Rica for the past 1o years and during that time he has acquired a plethora of information on the various schemes employed in Costa Rica to scam the uniformed. Scams range from real estate frauds to marriage scams.
Real estate scams are second only to the scams being committed by the women in the sex trade. The reason Gear talks about them first is the obvious potential for enormous financial loss to their victims. Laws in Costa Rica are very different than in the United States. Beware of pre-construction offers on developments that are not under construction. There are too many issues to discuss in this forum but your risk of losing money is significantly higher with such deals and your chances of recovery are virtually gone.
Scams by women working in the sex trade are another source of potential financial loss, Many of these women prey upon men visiting this country to send them money when the men have returned to the United States. Of course when the man is in the United states she is right back in the place where he met her (hotel) working another “gringo”. Recently Gear said he had a case that revealed that the woman had no less than 8 men sending her money on a monthly basis and she was still working the hotels. The common denominator between all the victims was the promise to marry and m ove to the United states. The only problem was that she was a Colombian and already married in Costa Rica.
So, what should you do if you think you are a victim or a potential victim of a scam. The firtst thing is to retain a competent, professional and reliable private investigator. Private investigators in Costa Rica are at times neither. Some of the investigators are scammers themselves according to Gear. Prior to retaining a Costa Rica private investigator, he should be vetted and his credentials verified prior to retention. Ask him such things as verifiable law enforcement experience, education, office location, business telephone number and if they have an accounting system to track time and expenses. Ask if they will be doing the work or if they are subbing it out to others not associated with the firm. Gear said he knows of agencies that have non existent offices and others that use convicted felons to carry out the assignments. Ask if the investigator can and will travel to your jurisdiction to testify. Many can’t as they are wanted in the United States.
Prior to dong anything in Costa Rica you would well advised to do some research first. No better place to start than a professional and qualified private investigator in Costa Rica. He can provide a wealth of information and help you avoid being scammed.
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Cody L Gear and Associates is a charter member of CID and have been providing investigative services in Costa Rica and South America since 1997. We have the experience and education to deliver verifiable, quality information to our clients.
Check out the site here www.prlog.org
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Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Costa Rican trip teaches about science, culture
Twenty D.C. middle school students took the trip of a lifetime this month to Costa Rica, thanks to an educational travel program offered by Global Explorers, a nonprofit group, and the Travel Channel.
The students from KIPP DC: AIM Academy, a public charter school for grades 5 to 8, spent the last semester of the school year studying Costa Rica. On the trip, the kids learned about the local culture, science and how to be a good global citizen. They met students in Costa Rica and learned about the Central American country’s rain forest, plants and animals. For all of them, it was the first trip out of the country; as part of the project, they’ll also do community service at home.
“I have learned that others live differently than we do in D.C.,” said Johnice Patterson, 13, about her trip. “We need to go places to see and experience how they live.”
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Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Recently I wrote about consumer trends in Costa Rica and how they are tied in when looking at new business opportunities. Knowing your environment and clientele is obviously a critical step in identifying the right business. And while having a grasp of consumer trends is an excellent start, it is important that anyone starting a business in Costa Rica also has a basic understanding of the economy as well.
The economy in Costa Rica has always been one of the most stable and strongest economies in Central America. I could give you all sorts of statistics on things like the GDP and per capita income, but I think its more practical to look some basic info and facts
Medical Tourism
Medical Tourism is becoming a big business and is still in it’s infancy. Costa Rica is and continues to be one of the principal destinations for this new industry. Countless businesses related to this sector are growing and expanding, all of them obviously result in growth for the local economy.
Workforce
If a U.S. business is considering outsourcing their business, Costa Rica often makes the list and in many cases is the winner. A highly educated workforce that is very tech savvy and fluent in English gives Costa Rica a dominant advantage. HP, Intel, Amazon, Microsoft and other fortune 500 companies are already here and more continue to come.
Political Stability
Central America has had it’s up and downs, but Costa Rica has a distinct advantage of having a stable democracy for over half a century. No doubt this history of stability and diplomacy has helped attract new businesses and investments.
Agriculture
Coffee, bananas and pineapple. Costa Rica produces much more, but those are the big three, all crops that are consistently stable in both production and demand.
Tourism
Many of us sometimes forget that Costa Rica is still very much an untapped market. The record number of tourists to come to Costa Rica in one year is just slightly over 2 million. In comparison Mexico gets over 20 million tourists annually! A 50% increase in tourism for Costa Rica would still only equal 3 million tourists.
All of these sectors and facts equal economic grown and more importantly opportunities. On my next article we’ll take a look at American’s who have began a business in Costa Rica.
Story DavidKarrProperties.com
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