One farm used 13 times as collateral for bail

The Supreme Court, the Public Ministry and the Directorate of Land Registry of the Ministry of Finance have opened separate investigations about the use of the same farm as security for bail in a series of high profile criminal investigations.
Former ministers Belgis Castro and Salvador Rodriguez, and the former municipal engineer Jaime Salas all presented the same farm as collateral says La Prensa, and the deputy Attorney General says that 10 others used the same farm for bail guarantees.

In the Justice Branch, investigations include an audit of the process of granting and recording of bonds to release the three former officials.
Audits will also be made of the Second Criminal Court, Hilda Bonilla de Vidal, who accepted the mortgage bond for $500,000 in favor of former municipal engineer Jaime Salas. Salas is accused of crimes against public administration and against the national economy.

The judge of the eleventh court Scoplis Josefina, agreed to the release of the former ministers of Education Belgis Castro and Salvador Rodriguez, each for $150,000. Both are accused of irregularities in the allocation of contracts to remove the fiberglass in public schools.

The deputy prosecutor, Giuseppe Bonissi, said his office confirmed that the property number 50728- located in Cocle, was used for the provision of securities granted to Castro, Rodriguez and Salas, was also used as mortgage for the securing of another 10 bonds for release.
inflated the land value to $3 million, and officials who supported and recorded the price of the property.

The prosecutor in charge said that so far, lawyers representing those involved in the use of the property as collateral are not under investigation. "They just asked for the assistance of a surety who must ensure that the bond was consistent with the needs of their clients."

Finally, Bonissi explained that once his office progresses with he initial enquiries , the case could be delegated to one of the Anticorruption prosecutors.

The director of the Land Registry, Publius Cortes ordered a specific valuation of the farm owned by Rodrigo Muñoz Sanchez, to determine if its value is indeed $3 million.

The property is in the village of El Potrero district of La Pintada, Cocle Province, and will assessed on March 12.

What happened has revealed a gap in the law, that must change, said Cortes. He suggested an amendment so that in the case of bail applications only appraisals performed by the Directorate of Land Registry should be accepted.
In September 2009 – Cortes sent a letter to Attorney General Ana Matilde Gomez regarding a similar case putting the institution at the disposal of any request for information relating to the farms used to as bonds.
La Prensa says that a criminal lawyer said that outside the Directorate of Judicial Investigation (DIJ) lurk people engaged in the business of securities for release, making available to the families of detainees farms as warranty. "No one checks the actual values," he said.

Headded that it is rarely surety companies, but individuals who have replaced insurance companies in this business.

Rogelio Cruz, lawyer for Jaime Salas said that the alteration of the rateable value of an estate is not a cause to revoke bail for release, and that in such cases another farm would be found to make the tax value to cover the amount of bail imposed by the judge.