The Public Ministry will initiate an investigation into alleged inconsistencies detected in the handling of money stored in the vaults of the National Bank, from where a substantial sum seemingly disappeared.
In response to inquiries from this media outlet, the Prosecutor’s Office indicated that the case has been taken up by the Deputy Prosecutor for Probity, Transparency, and Anti-Corruption (FAPTA).
“(…) opened a case on its own to investigate the alleged embezzlement of 2 billion colones from the National Bank’s vaults.
Despite the amount mentioned by the Prosecutor’s Office, the National Bank confirmed this morning that a total of ¢3,200 million went missing from the vaults.
FAPTA reported that the case is proceeding under case file 23-000369-1218-PE, for the alleged crime of embezzlement, and is being processed against unknown individuals, meaning that there are currently no identified suspects.
As the case is in the preparatory stage, which is private, it is not possible to provide more details, as stipulated in Article 295 of the Criminal Procedure Code.”
Although the exact time of the theft is unknown, the bank’s executives learned about it at the beginning of this month, which prompted them to launch an internal administrative investigation and subsequently suspend five employees.
The National Bank of Costa Rica (BN) confirmed that they became aware of some “inconsistencies” in the Cash Management department, which oversees the bank’s bills and coins.
In a response sent to the CRHoy.com editorial team, BN stated that these inconsistencies were identified as part of their regular internal audits of various internal processes.
“As part of the regular internal audits carried out by BN on its various internal processes, some inconsistencies were identified in the Cash Management department. Faced with this situation and in compliance with legal regulations and current internal procedures, BN initiated an internal investigation, which is currently ongoing. Following due process, the bank temporarily suspended five employees while the investigation is underway,” the response sent to this media outlet said.
The bank also stated that they will not provide further comments on the case or expand on the details of the investigation until the inquiry is concluded. The communication also ruled out any impact on the bank’s stability or solvency due to this situation.
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