The Spaniard arrested in Liberia on Thursday was apprehended in 2007 in his country on suspicion of money laundering offenses.
The subject, named Arceiz Sánchez, maintained repeated collisions with Spanish authorities during the last decade.
Arceiz, along with his brothers, served as owner of Walthon Weir Pacific, a controversial valve company based in Zaragoza.
However, for actions taken with the company, he was prosecuted for multiple crimes and in 2007 he was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes against the public hearing.
The foreigner, who entered Costa Rica in 2013, travelled using fake passports. Days before his capture he tried to get a loan for 1.7 billion colones in order to buy a property in Cartago.
Apparently, Arceiz tried to cheat the bank by using fake documents and corporations of dubious conformation.
According to El Periódico de Aragón, in a report published on November 1st, 2007, the businessman was sent to a prison in the town of Logroño to serve preventive arrest. Arceiz later fled his country in unclear circumstances.
Arceiz would have allegedly diverted one million euros to tax havens, like Bahamas, through several constructors. Likewise, an offense against the Public Treasury is imputed for the non-payment of 200 thousand euros, corresponding to VAT, on the sale of properties. Apparently, Arceiz was wanted by the justice, so he was arrested when found in the Court of Logroño. The accused has at least eight other pending trials,”
said the Spanish newspaper.
The valve company he managed went bankrupt in 2002 leaving 186 unemployed people and over 200 creditors on the street. The debt produced by the company exceeded 27 million euros.
Arceiz hid not only in Costa Rica but in Panama aswell, where his suspicious activities did not go unnoticed.
Since the fraud was not consummated in Costa Rica, he has no pending cases with the justice here. However, the Minister of Public Security, Gustavo Mata, confirmed that he will be expelled from the national territory because of his criminal record.
The foreigner resided in Escazú and from there he moved to different points of the national territory. It is presumed that its main activity was the purchase of property through third parties.