Costa Rica speaks out about David Ochy

The movements of money and the purchase of high-value items were key to the arrest – last Tuesday, December 5 – of Panamanian citizen David Ochy, in the district of Guápiles, canton of Pococí, province of Limón, in Costa Rica.

This was announced by Randall Zúñiga, director of the Judicial Police in the neighboring country, in statements reported by the Costa Rican newspaper La Nación .

Zúñiga explained to La Nación that they detected that Ochy’s businesses in Costa Rica “did not match” their purchasing power. As the investigations progressed, they detected that it was Ochy, “who resided in our country with a false Costa Rican identity.”

“At the time, a money laundering case was opened against him and, when we delved deeper into the case, we realized that it is indeed an individual named David Ochy Diez, wanted by the Panamanian authorities,” the Costa Rican official remarked.

Ochy and two other women were arrested in three raids carried out in Guápiles de Pococí, La Selva de Guácimo and Batán de Matina.

In the raids, which took place in the early hours of last Tuesday, almost $9,000 in cash, jewelry, vehicles and agricultural machinery were also seized.

The Judicial Investigation Agency reported that Ochy had a banana packing plant in Batán, supposedly managed by a niece; she would be responsible for the operation of the plant and payments for the business.

After learning of this fact, the Attorney General of Panama, Javier Caraballo, said that Ochy would be subjected to a “deferred” extradition process, since he must first respond for crimes that he is accused of in Costa Rica. Caraballo indicated that the extradition was requested by the Second Criminal Cases Court for his involvement in the New Business case, on October 6, through the Foreign Ministry’s International Affairs Directorate. Previously the court had declared him in absentia.

The reasons for the Ochy requirement in Panama

The prosecution accuses Ochy because, through Transcaribe Trading Corporation (TCT), he transferred funds to the basket account of New Business Services Ltd., which were advances that the State had delivered in exchange for remodeling the Arraiján-La Chorrera highway.

That money was used to acquire the shares of Editora Panamá América, SA (Epasa), in December 2010, when Martinelli was the country’s ruler. In the trial it was proven that Martinelli is the beneficiary of 60% of Epasa’s shares.

The Second Settlement Court for Criminal Cases has yet to hold Ochy’s trial. A date has not yet been set.

At the time of his arrest, Ochy gave statements to Telenoticias. “This is going to be fixed in Panama, because mine is a political persecution that began in the time of Juan Carlos Varela and was followed by Nito Cortizo,” he said. “I have never violated the law in Panama,” he stated.

The Panamanian was placed under the orders of the Public Ministry, where a criminal case was opened against him for money laundering and falsification of documents. “We would have to conclude our process and, once the execution phase begins, we could extradite this person,” explained Carlo Díaz, Costa Rican attorney general.