Judicial employee loan fund manages sale of its credit portfolio with CoopeAnde RL

The Commission to Promote Competition (Coprocom) reported a notification that reached them, on the previous May 6, about the sale of the credit portfolio by the Judicial Branch Loans and Discounts Fund (Caprede), which is facing a difficult financial situation, to the Ande Savings and Credit Cooperative (CoopeAnde RL).

Through a statement published last Thursday, June 16, Coprocomo reported on the negotiation between the cooperative entity and Caprede, which manages the savings of magistrates, judges and prosecutors of the Republic and has about 3,000 members.

Due to the notification of the sale of the portfolio, Coprocom requested the interested third parties to present them with relevant information for the analysis of the economic concentration in the market related to the provision of credit financial services. This authorization is necessary to finalize the sale process.

Due to its financial situation, Caprede had already transferred to a trust, in April 2021, just over half of its credit portfolio to pay a debt of ¢12.9 billion with the National Bank of Costa Rica (BNCR).

[ Caprede cedió la mitad de su cartera de créditos a fideicomiso para pagar deuda con Banco Nacional ]

His loan portfolio, at that time, was ¢23,000 million, according to his financial statements, of which he ceded ¢12,900 million (56%). It is unknown if the sale of the credit portfolio to CoopeAnde RL is the other 44% that they had left or part of it. It is also unknown what Caprede will do with the money from the sale.

[ Mal negocio amenaza con dejar sin ahorros a empleados de la Corte ]

The nation This Saturday, he requested statements from Alexánder Arguedas, general manager of Caprede, but indicated that said information should be requested, during working hours, from the company’s official mail.

Caprede established, in April 2021, said guarantee trust in which it directed part of its income for the recovery of loans granted to judicial employees. At that time, Arguedas ruled out that the measure adopted implied a risk for the 3,000 affiliates.

However, the total loan portfolio represented 70% of Caprede’s assets, which reported a balance of ¢32,287 million as of July 2020, according to the financial statements at that time.

Part of Caprede’s financial problems date back to 2010, when he decided to enter the business of buying and discounting invoices to increase his profits, an activity called factoring. That decision has them in a complex financial situation, without being able to return millionaire savings and investments to their partners and with several legal complaints in tow.

[ Oleada de malos créditos costó ¢55.000 millones a la banca estatal ]

To engage in that activity, Caprede created the subsidiary Caprede Factoreo and transferred ¢4,500 million from the savings and profits of workers and pensioners of the Judiciary to it.

It also injected more than ¢4,300 million in credits requested from the National Bank and other financial entities, which are pending cancellation and are the responsibility of the associates.

A forensic audit carried out in 2017 revealed that the entity received hundreds of altered invoices for billions, which led to uncollectible credit portfolios.

According to the audited financial statements, as of July 2020, Caprede was at risk of losing the ¢8,844 million invested in the purchase and discount of invoices.

Carlos Mora, president of the Board of Directors of Caprede, told the The nationin March 2021, that the factoring business did not turn out as they thought and that they bear the consequences.

[ Banco Nacional vendió crédito malo a su asociación solidarista ]

Caprede went from a payroll of 60 people to 26 and the liquidity reserve went from ¢3,000 million to only ¢50 million.

In 2020, they considered submitting to a superior administration process, in which a judge evaluates their financial condition and establishes an intervention.

The situation causes anguish to members who fear losing their life savings and investments. Some of them deposited there amounts that exceed ¢300 million, product of the reserves of their entire lives or the severance obtained at the time of retiring, according to various information published by this medium.

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