The Grupo Nación (GN), publisher of Costa Rica’s leading daily La Nación among others, will have its preliminary hearing on charges of tax evasion in August.
The Juzgado Penal del Segundo Circuito Judicial a la Fiscalía de Delitos Económicos y Tributarios (Court of Economic and Tax Crimes) confirmed that the hearing will be held between August 25 and 29 of this year.
The hearing will focus on four accused: Manuel Francisco Jiménez, CEO of the Grupo Nación; his cousin and former vice-minister of Finance, Carlos González Jiménez; and lawyers, Javier León and Luis Javier Uribe.
The Ministerio Publico (Prosecutor’s office) is looking to take the case to trial.
The case dates back to a 2004 tax filing by the Grupo Nación, where it is alleged to have falsely reported the sale two old presses that had already been depreciated by Capital Leasing Corporation, a corporation constituted by Carlos González Jiménez with US$2 million capital.
The Grupo Nación has been fighting the case since. The first hearing took place in February 2013 with lawyers for the group have been filing motions and appeals almost monthly ever since.
Grupo Nación
In addition to the daily La Nación, the Grupo Nación also publishes Al Dia (sports daily), La Teja (daily yellow journalism) and El Financiero (financial weekly), and also the magazines Perfil, Sabores, SoHoand Su Casa. The Grupo Nación also owns other related companies, such as Servigráficos, Impresión Comercial, and PAYCA.
The group also owns several radio stations of the Grupo Latinoamericano de Radiodifusión, in alliance with the Spaniard Grupo Prisa, operating three radio stations: La Nueva 90.7, Los 40 Principales, and Bésame. Overseas the Grupo Nación owns three important newspapers. The Panamanian weekly El Capital, and Siglo XXI and Al Día in Guatemala.
