La Nacion stated that Fred Kushner and a former bank employee, Randall Retana, were detained in San Jose in January 2001 (10 Jan. 2001). With the help of Retana, Kushner reportedly obtained US$3 million from the Banco Nacional and the Banco de Costa Rica (La Nacion 10 Jan. 2001; ibid. 1 Feb. 2001) in letters of credit to import electronic equipment that he had fraudulently overvalued (Bolsa de Noticias 12 Jan. 2001). The banks alleged that the value of the imported merchandise was less than the amount that Kushner had received in letters of credit (La Nacion 15 Oct. 2002). Mariano Guardia of the Banco de Costa Rica stated that there were irregularities in the presentation of the shipping documents and in the value of the merchandise (ibid. 10 Jan. 2001).

According to a 15 October 2002 La Nacion article, Kushner was acquitted of four counts of fraud in relation to the funds received from the Banco de Costa Rica and he remained in prison while awaiting his trial regarding the US$1.5 million received from the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica.

In February 2001, the San Jose Judicial Tribunal ordered Kushner to spend three months in prison, unless he deposited 750 million colones in bail [CDN$3, 520,000 (Oanda 15 Nov. 2002)] (La Nacion 1 Feb. 2001). No information on whether Kushner was released on bail while awaiting his trial or whether he is currently operating any other companies could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Mention of Kushner's company, Frener Electrica, was found on the Website of the San Jose-based credit company Protectora de Credito Comercial (10 Jan. 1996). The company is also listed on the International Company Profile (ICP) Website, which provides credit reports and profiles on companies around the world (29 Sept. 1998). However, no information indicating whether Frener Electrica still exists could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Bolsa de Noticias [Managua, in Spanish]. 12 February 2001. "Millonaria Estafa en Costa Rica." http://www.grupoese.com.ni/2001/bn/01/12/inter3MN0112.htm [Accessed 14 Nov. 2002]

International Company Profile (ICP). 29 September 1998. "Frener Electrica Centroamericana SA." http://www.icpcredit.com/ReportRequest.asp?sCompanyID=177176 [Accessed 15 Nov. 2002]

La Nacion [San Jose, in Spanish]. 15 October 2002. "Empresario Absuelto de Estafa." http://nacion.co.cr/1n_ee/2002/octubre/15pais12.html [Accessed 14 Nov. 2002]

_____. 1 February 2001. "Estafa a Bancos." http://www.nacion.co.cr/1n_ee/2001/febrero/01/pais9.html [Accessed 14 Nov. 2002]

_____. 10 January 2001. "Estafan c954 Milliones." http://www.nacion.co.cr/1n_ee/2001/enero/10/pais11.html [Accessed 14 Nov. 2002]

Oanda. 15 November 2002. "FXConverter - 164 Currency Converter." http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic [Accessed 15 Nov. 2002]

Protectora de Credito Comercial. 10 January 1996. "Estudio de Referencias Comerciales." http://www.protectora.com/referenciasn.htm [Accessed 15 Nov. 2002]

IRB Databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sites, including:

A.M. Costa Rica

La Prensa Libre (Oct. 2002)

World News Connection (WNC)

Search engine:

Google