SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, March 15 (UPI) -- Former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez has been released from jail, but remains under house arrest, Al Dia reported Tuesday.
Also a one-time chief of the Organization of American States, Rodriguez was arrested in October in Costa Rica on corruption charges.
Later that same month another ex-Costa Rican president, Rafael Calderon, was arrested on charges of receiving a kickback on a multi-mullion federal purchase of medical supplies from Finland. Calderon insists he is innocent any misdoings during his time in office, 1990-94.
Rodriguez, who served as president from 1998-2002, has been accused of demanding a share of payoffs from companies doing business worth millions of dollars with Costa Rican energy and telecommunications companies.
He reportedly asked his close associate, Jose Lobo, for 60 percent of $2 million allegedly paid Lobo by Alcatel, the French telecommunications company, for helping them close a deal with the state Telecommunications and Power Institution.
