Garabito expands charges against coordinator for advising subordinate to hide

The Municipality of Garabito expanded the transfer of charges against Fulvio Barboza Hernández, coordinator of the Citizen Services Process, for allegedly advising a subordinate to hide and process medical leaves to evade an investigation into the misappropriation of public funds. The decision is contained in resolution OD-007-2026-DCHM-FBH, issued by the Directing Body of the Disciplinary Administrative Procedure on August 8, 2026, and published in La Gaceta No. 197 on Monday, October 19, 2026. The body convened an oral and private hearing for Wednesday, November 25, 2026, at ten-thirty hours, at the offices of the Civic Center for Peace, in Puntarenas, Garabito.

The case began with resolution RAM-030-2026-FGM, at twelve hours on March 6, 2026, personally notified to the official on March 25, 2026. Subsequently, the Deciding Body—municipal mayor Francisco González Madrigal—assumed knowledge of the procedure through resolution RAM-161-2026-FGM, at ten hours on July 23, 2026, based on articles 83 paragraph 1), 84 paragraph b), 93 et seq., and 306 of the General Law of Public Administration, and ordered the expansion of the investigated facts.

The expansion was based on a testimonial statement given in another administrative file related to former official Christopher Solano Álvarez, which revealed events that occurred during the same employment relationship and were unknown at the time of the original transfer of charges. Through resolution RAM-180-2026-FGM, at thirteen hours on July 27, 2026, the Deciding Body specified that evidence regarding the expanded facts will be offered and received during the oral and private hearing, pursuant to article 309 of the same law.

The imputed facts

The transfer is formulated at a probability level and covers the following conducts:

• Fulvio Barboza Hernández served as the immediate hierarchical superior of Christopher Solano Álvarez, a subordinate cashier in the Citizen Services Process.
• On the occasion of the subordinate’s suspension from his duties, he held a conversation with him that was witnessed and overheard by other officials.
• He advised him not to report to the Municipality of Garabito, to obtain medical leave to justify the absence, to refrain from appearing at the municipal facilities, and not to render accounts as a public official.
• He advised him to hide or conceal himself in case he was sought by the municipality.
• He is attributed to have expressed willingness to pay for the services of a private doctor to issue successive medical leaves for that same purpose.
• He did not inform the municipality or the mayor of the acts of misappropriation of public funds, omitted the legal duty to report the crime, and concealed the conversation.
• He is charged with breach of the duty of probity and loss of suitability for the position, which entails the General Head of Cashiers and the management of funds that enter the municipality daily.

The hearing of November 25

The appointment is for Wednesday, November 25, 2026, at 10:30, at the Civic Center for Peace, in Puntarenas, Garabito. At that venue, the investigated party may present his defense orally, offer and produce exculpatory evidence, be accompanied by his defense attorney or a trusted representative, and exercise the other rights granted to him by the legal system.

The resolution nullifies the date of September 7, 2026, set in a previous summons, because the investigated party could not be notified. Additionally, he is granted the legal period to exercise his defense regarding the expanded facts and is warned to designate a means or place to receive notifications.

Appeals and publication

The ordinary appeals of revocation and appeal may be filed against the resolution, in accordance with article 345 of the General Law of Public Administration and the Municipal Code. The act is notified by edict and it was ordered to be published three consecutive times; this is the second of those publications, after the one appearing in La Gaceta No. 196 on October 16, 2026. The document is signed by attorney Arlyn Arellys Carmona Laguna, Institutional Provider, under reference IN202601133073.

The case is important because the expanded transfer reaches the official who directly supervised the receipt of public funds in the Citizen Services Process of Garabito, and because the administration activated the mechanism for incorporating new facts provided for in article 306 of the law to expand the investigation without restarting the procedure. The resolution does not yet define any liability: it sets the charges and opens the instance in which the investigated party must defend himself.

Source: La Gaceta, No. 197 of Monday, October 19, 2026, Municipalities section, pages 101-102 (official reference: IN202601133073).