Q COSTA RICA — The Deputy Prosecutor’s Office for Probity, Transparency, and Anti-Corruption (FAPTA) requested six months of pretrial detention (remand) for Judge Ricardo Valverde López and a woman, Gelen Magaly Arias Monge, sister of Alejandro Arias Monge, alias “Diablo.”
For an Organismo de Investigación Judicial agent (Rojas) and another judge (Ramírez), they requested suspension from their positions, periodic reporting to the court, a travel ban, and a restraining order prohibiting them from approaching witnesses or the Pococí Criminal Court.
These precautionary measures were requested after evaluating the specific legal situation of each defendant.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office presented the request during the hearing on precautionary measures before the Criminal Court on Wednesday, following the arrests on Tuesday as part of the investigation into their alleged ties to the criminal organization led by Alejandro Arias Monge, alias “Diablo”, one of the most wanted criminals for the last decade and who is currently in preventive detention following his arrest last month.
The Prosecutor’s Office accuses the two judges and the OIJ agent of the alleged crimes of facilitating impunity, bribery, corruption, and misuse of public funds, supposedly committed between 2023 and 2026. During this period, they allegedly used their positions to favor members of Diablo’s organization in the case known as “Colorado.”
The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating Gelen Arias Monge for her alleged participation in these same events and for her close ties to her brother’s inner circle.
Gelen is identified as the new leader of the organization following her brother’s arrest and the death of Randall Delgado Mora, alias “Mister Muscle.”
With the request for pretrial detention, the Public Prosecutor’s Office seeks to ensure the integrity of the legal process while the analysis of the evidence gathered so far continues. This evidence includes intercepted communications, the lifting of bank secrecy for Valverde and Rojas, and the study of the couple’s increased wealth.
The Court will have to decide whether to accept the requested measure or whether to issue an alternative to pretrial detention for the four suspects.