In a resolution issued on June 4th, the Criminal Court of the Treasury and the Civil Service ordered prosecuting Ofelia Taitelbaum, former ombudsman, for alleged crimes of ideological falsification and coercion. This was confirmed by the press office of the Public Ministry, after a second hearing was held to define the opening of the trial.
Last November, the court brought the case to trial for a lesser number of crimes than those charged by the Deputy Prosecutor for Probity, Transparency and Anticorruption (Fapta). However, this dependency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal that was successful and a second hearing was ordered.
In the first instance, Taitelbaum was accused of 104 alleged crimes: 39 charges for possible ideological falsehood, 39 charges for alleged false document use, two charges for possible coercion, and 24 charges for apparent embezzlement. This accusation was raised at the end of 2016.
After that first hearing, the 39 alleged crimes of ideological falsehood, 24 alleged embezzlement, and two apparent coercion charges were dismissed, so she would only face trial for allegedly using a false document.
But, after the second trial held in June, it was finally decided to take Taitelbaum to trial for 41 crimes: 39 charges for alleged ideological falsehood, and two charges for alleged coercion.
Taitelbaum left office in 2014 in the midst of controversy and was accused by a seamstress from the Northern Zone with the surname Otárola, who had problems to get an insurance with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS). After investigating why she could not benefit from social security, the woman filed a complaint with the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), as she found she appeared as a consultant in a company linked to Taitelbaum. The seamstress would have received ¢ 32 million from that society in a period of five years. However, Otárola said she had not received any money, never worked for that company, and therefore never declared before the General Taxation Office of the Ministry of Finance.
Along with Taitelbaum, her accountant was also investigated, and will now face trial.