stunnel error in loading configuration generated by openssl?

Question

I am getting errors thrown when reloading an stunnel configuration file which tries to verify a certificate from a remote server. After some hunting, the errors seem related to openssl (ver 1.1.1i) which I am running on Windows 10. Here are the errors:

error queue: crypto/x509/by_file.c:231: error:05880020:x509 certificate routines::BIO lib error queue: crypto/bio/bss_file.c:75: error:10000080:BIO routines::no such file SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations: crypto/bio/bss_file.c:67: error:80000002:system library::No such file or directory

Based on what these say, it seems that the files, which are part of the openssl install, have been placed in the wrong place. However, I can not find confirmation of this, and without the full file path I am at a loss of where to place these files (e.g. should I put them in the stunnel directory, because that is implicitly the path from which the configuration file is accessed)?

I have changed the certification files, and self-generated files seem to work, but I need actually to validate the certificate from the remote server. I have downloaded the certificate files, so I have them locally, but this has not solved the issue.