San Jose - A Costa Rican court sentenced Costa Rican former president Rafael Angel Calderon to five years in prison for two counts of embezzlement. The court ruling was announced late Monday, in a case which came to light in 2004 and is regarded as one of the biggest corruption scandals in the history of the Central American country.
Calderon, 60, who ruled Costa Rica 1990-94 and is the son of a former Costa Rican president with the same name (1940-44), complained that the court had not proven he was guilty and said he would appeal the ruling.
He had been seeking a further presidential mandate in next year's election, but withdrew from the race in the face of the conviction.
Several other public sector officials were also sentenced to prison terms in the case.
The scandal broke out when authorities discovered that the Finnish firm Medko Instrumentarium Medical had paid bribes to politicians and government officials in Costa Rica to secure contracts for the supply of medical equipment.
An investigation was ongoing in Finland against three executives of the same company for the same case.
