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| Griselda Pastén Cladia Alarcon |
Federal Attorney Arrest Related to Fraudulent Land Titles
Bolivian Treasury official, Griselda Pastén
Cladia Alarcon, was taken into custody by Bolivian police today and charged
with defrauding Mennonite settlers of up to $800,000 (US).
Impacted settlements include the Manitoba
settlement and Stones II, both located in San José de Chiquitos. According to prosecutor, Angel Alvarez, charges
include aggravated fraud, material misrepresentation, falsification, forgery
and extortion.
As legal adviser to the National Institute
of Agrarian Reform (INRA), Pastén charged the Mennonites $800,000 to consolidate,
clear title and transfer 20,000 hectares (about 50,000 acres or 77 square
miles) of state owned land.
In March, the Mennonites hired Alberto
Toranzo to represent their claims against Pastén to Bolivian authorities.
According to the documents forwarded to
national lawmakers in the Bolivian House of Representatives, Pastén seems to
have charged for illegal and unnecessary fees and forging President Evo Morales’
signature on two land titles. Included in
the documents were bank statements proving the $800,000 transaction.
In March of this year, Radiofides.com
quotes Toranzo, “En el año 2010 la señora
Claudia Griselda Pastén trabajando en la Dirección Jurídica del INRA nacional
visita la ciudad de Santa Cruz y sonsaca en varias oportunidades a dos colonias
menonitas, Manitoba y La Piedras alrededor de 450 mil dólares para saneamiento
de sus tierras, tengo en mis manos varios depósitos hechos en la cuenta de la
señora Claudia Pastén, en tres cuentas de tres Bancos,”
Or roughly, “In 2010, Claudia Pastén, an attorney with the Bolivian INRA, visited
Santa Cruz and asked the Mennonites of the Manitoba and The Stones colonies for
$450,000 in order to clear title to their land.
I have in my hands bank receipts for deposits made into three bank accounts
registerd to Ms. Pastén.”
About 650 Russian Mennonite families are
impacted by the fraud.
I have been unable to determine whether or
not any displacement of those Mennonite families has been demanded or has occurred.
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| Mennonite in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Image Courtesy Radio Fides |
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