Corruption in the DR
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I have not read a lot regarding this but isn't there talk of going after former president Medina? I suspected they would eventually do that but it will be much more difficult to prosecute a former president.
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Yes that was in the news. It will be very difficult but it could be done. Certainly they are going after his family
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This is totally unbelievable, but what balls they have trying to make these convictions. Go team go!
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This President created a special prosecutor, disconnected from politics (well less so then previously). She and her team have been working hard to prosecute the worst and largest offenders! It appears no one is off limits!
Time will tell how this works out!
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Acquitted those accused of bribery in the Super Tucano case
In 2017, the Brazilian company Embraer, supplier of the Super Tucano aircraft, paid the DR a US$7 million fine and admitted bribes
Bribery was admitted by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer but those accused of the corruption got off. the case started under the past governments Prosecutor General who is now in prison accused of corruption. Not surprising I suppose.
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Now doesnt that just piss you off.
Also announced today that the past President Medina is officially being investigated.
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1The country got used to officials being given not guilty verdicts for corruption. Watch the two accused of handling the 93 million dollar bribes admitted by Odebrecht get off in the coming months.
One has to hope the current public prosecutors do better and turn the many recent accusations into convictions.
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1Finally the Medusa prosecution files have been submitted in a corruption case involving 6 billion pesos and the former Attorney General. It apparently involved hiking tender prices by 20% as below.
This Saturday night, the Public Ministry deposited the formal accusation of the Medusa case, whose main defendant is former attorney Jean Alain Rodríguez........
Red Medusa demanded a 20% toll from companies to which it delivered contracts
Long before the tender for the Prison System Humanization Plan was officially published, former prosecutor Jean Alain Rodríguez and the members of the Medusa network had already selected the construction companies that would be the winners; these had to return a "toll" of 20% of the total amount of the contract in favor of the members of the corruption network.
This is revealed by new documents from the investigation of the Public Ministry to which Diario Libre had access and which were deposited on Saturday night with the formal accusation of the Medusa case .
The document establishes that a well-known engineer (whose name was not disclosed) was contacted by Rafael Stefano Canó Sacco, the former chief of staff of former attorney Jean Alain Rodríguez , to inform him that they would open a bidding process for the Prison System Humanization Plan and that "They needed trustworthy builders." He would have suggested that he participate, but the engineer refused to participate because "there was a clear friendship with Jean Alain Rodríguez " and he was not a "state contractor" either.
The engineer took advantage of the opportunity and sought his "close friends" and "trustworthy people" to participate in the tender where they were guaranteed contracts in exchange for payment of the toll (20% of the contract they would receive). Once the names of the construction companies were gathered, the engineer met again with Canó Sacco to show him the profile of the construction companies and Canó Sacco gave the go-ahead, according to the documents.
Companies and owners
In the list of companies were the Remix-Rotilla Consortium, chaired by businesswoman Raffella Delfina Mazzone; Marizán Construction Engineering and Real Estate SRL owned by Grandersio Marizán; also the Constructora Pablo Yarull y Asociados, owned by the engineer and former adviser to the Executive Power Pablo Yarull.
The documentation also mentions the Mac Construcciones SRL company linked to the Minister of the Presidency, Lisandro Macarrulla.
Supposedly, after Canó gave the authorization, the tender was opened . From now on, the entire process, according to the investigation, should be carried out by the former administrative director of the Attorney General's Office, Jonathan Rodríguez Imbert.
Immediately, Jonathan Rodríguez would have called a meeting with the contractors to define the issue “of the contracts. How much would the amounts be… which lot would be assigned to which construction company, there was a discussion about who the lots were.”
"There is talk that there are committed lots, such as earthworks, all this is before the tender is officially carried out," says the document.
In that first meeting with the contractors was Jonathan Rodríguez, in addition to Rafael Antonio Mercedes Marte, the former director of Accounting of the Attorney General's Office, according to the document. There, the 20% scheme would have been discussed "and that this should come from the first payment." Although after a discussion they relaxed.
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I hope they all spend time in their prison system that most likely never was improved, if that was one of the contracts awarded in the tender for "Prison System Humanization Plan". I hope they are not permitted to leave the country before this happens because I understand justice is very slow in DR.
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One of the main players was stopped at the airport months ago when he was trying to leave the country. He is currently in jail waiting for his trial. He was officially charged on Saturday!
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1049
and I hope they give the 20% back to the end buyer if they recover it! Let me just hold my breath I can feel it coming...
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now that's funny!
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1A total of 41 people and 22 companies accused in the Medusa Case
Rafael Canó, designated as Jean Alain's right-hand man, is not among the accused
Neither did the engineer Antón Casasnovas, who revealed how the extortion of works worked
The formal accusation for the framework of corruption persecuted in Operation Medusa involves 41 people and 22 companies, including former attorney Jean Alain Rodríguez , who has been in preventive detention for a year and for which more than RD$1,000 million were allegedly appropriated.
Among the accused are the names of Lisandro José Macarrulla, Rolando Sebelén Torres, José Antonio Santana Julián, Felipe Fernández de Castro, Miguel José Moya, in addition to other construction businessmen, in a case in which deputy attorney Wilson Camacho warned that "In the Dominican Republic, corruption no longer has a place to hide."
Unprecedented
The Specialized Prosecutor for Administrative Corruption (Pepca) assures that the voluminous accusation "has no precedent in the Dominican Republic... and possibly has no precedent in the entire region", because, in addition to the large number of defendants and companies subjected, it also has 12,274 pages, and within that, more than 3,500 pieces of evidence and 400 witnesses.
Among the new defendants are Cesarion Morel Grullón, Ysis Tapia, Mercedes Salcedo, Carolina Pimentel, Sebelén Torres, José Estrada, César Nicolás Rizik, Reynaldo Santos, Hilda Cristina Jackson, Juan Asael Martínez, among others.
While among the companies is Jurinvest Abogados SRL, Jean Alain's law office, which according to the Public Ministry was used for the acquisition of goods with money diverted from the Attorney General's Office.
Pepca says that through Jurinvest the former attorney acquired an office floor in the Solazar Tower, on Gustavo Mejía Ricart 54 Avenue in the National District, with an area of 652 square meters and several parking spaces, which cost US$800,000 in October 2020.
Mac Construcciones is another of the companies that are on the list. This is owned by the Macarrulla family and participated in the alleged rigged tender in which only the construction companies that agreed to pay a bribe of 20% of the value of the contract received were awarded, for the benefit of the Medusa network.
With illicit money
La Pepca assures that, with the illicit money, Jean Alain acquired a tourist villa in Bahía Chavón, with an area of 2,192.45 square meters, and a plot of 3,366 square meters in the exclusive Vista Lagos project.
The documents establish that, after acquiring the luxurious villa, the attorney paid an engineer more than 12 million pesos for its remodeling and then invested more money to equip it with high-value technological equipment and appliances.
Supposedly, everything was done with money stolen from the state. Pepca alleges that many of these payments were made in cash and were not even made in the name of Jean Alain "to protect his image."
Collaborators?
The name of Rafael Canó Sacco, who was designated as the right-hand man of former attorney Jean Alain Rodríguez , does not appear among the accused. Nor does the engineer Antón Casasnovas Nolasco appear, who had revealed in an interrogation how the network worked.
According to unofficial information, the Public Ministry could be negotiating with them in order to use them as star witnesses and prove the investigation.
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1It appears that the Ley de Extinción de Dominio sipported by the Abinader government is going to get passed which allows confiscation of illicit property to the state from acts of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion and be applied retrospectively. some politicians are edgy about this law.
All good in the fight against corruption in DR.
Abinader meets with the bicameral commission that studies the Domain Extinction Law
The President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, met this Monday with members of the Bicameral Commission of the National Congress that is studying the Bill of Domain Extinction Law.
This meeting takes place after the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) instructed its legislators to vote for the aforementioned piece, after the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) accused them of boycotting the initiative.
In recent days, before personnel from the United States embassy in the country, President Abinader guaranteed that this controversial piece would be approved in the coming days, statements that have also been made by the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Estrella and Alfredo Pacheco, respectively.
This same Monday, the PLD reported that it instructed its legislators to vote in favor of the domain extinction law, which would allow the confiscation of illicit assets linked to criminal activities.
The general secretary of that organization, Charlie Mariotti, explained, at the same time, that the initiative is an organic law, that is, that to be approved, the favorable vote of two thirds of the congressmen present is required.
"The position of the Dominican Liberation Party has been made very clear, the only recommendation we make is that in the drafting, neither in form nor in substance, the Magna Carta is transgressed and that the legal regime of the Dominican Republic be strengthened," pointed.
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1The revelations this week about the institutional corruption orchestrated by the former Attorney General Jean Alain are mind boggling and are staggering the Dominican population. Too much to post here but it has filled the media.
More big cases to start soon like Anti Pulpo with the ex presidents brother.
Here is a good article from El Caribe yesterday about how corruption is being attacked at the administrative level now:
Ensures there will be no "administrative silence" in cases of corruption
The director of Public Procurement and Contracting , Carlos Pimentel, accused the past governments of the Dominican Liberation Party ( PLD ), of promoting a system of impunity and accumulation to perpetrate power on the basis of corruption.
According to the former coordinator of Citizen Participation, it all started with the weakening of the system as a consequence of the Public Procurement and Contracting Law, after its modification in the last government of Dr. Leonel Fernández.
“When the purchase law was approved in 2006, the PLD, six months later, during the government of Leonel Fernández, decided to remove the system from consequence of the purchase and contracting law…and 16 years later we are seeing what have been the consequences for the Dominican Republic,” Pimentel said when interviewed on the Truths on the Air program by journalist Adolfo Salomón.
He assured that a preliminary project is being promoted that will return the character of consequence to Law 340 on Public Purchases and Contracting, which is being studied by the Treasury Commission of the Senate of the Republic.
He stated that this unit has provided all the information required by the Public Ministry for corruption cases that are currently being carried out.
Carlos Pimentel highlighted that the level of collaboration between the institutions that has to do with the processes of strengthening the fight against corruption has never been effective.
The accusation presented by the Public Ministry to the son of the Minister of the Presidency, Lisandro Macarrulla is a sign of the "independence" of Dominican justice.
He assured that next week they will be failing a precautionary measure filed by one of eleven providers against the acquisition of digital books by the Ministry of Education.
The official said that the information has been evaluated and analyzed to see if there were irregularities to give a verdict.
In that sense, Pimentel considered the request made by the legal department of the Ministry of Education to solve this issue out of court as clumsy, despite the fact that the case is in the middle of a hearing of amparo.
"In administrative law and in matters of public contracting at that stage knowing an amparo and before a very specific request, request the postponement of the hearing for a supposed negotiation", he pointed out.
Regarding the case of the program Caso Pinta tu Barrio of the Directorate of Special Programs of the Presidency, Pimentel said that a report will also be made public and promised that there will be no "administrative silence" in any of the corruption cases that are presented.
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1This is interesting. How can you possibly resolve any corruption case, and specifically at this magnitude, with an administrative process where people can "postpone a hearing" for "the purposes of negotiation".
And then you can negotiate your freedom in silence (without the citizens knowing what was said). No judge will hear it.
Is this part of each process, because then they may never ever get to trial. Can they keep on negotiating in silence until they get what they want?
Would be good to see if as Pimentel says, there will be "no administrative silence". You have to do this for all of them, not just pick and choose which ones to make public.
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2Sometimes negociation is about trying to get someone to turn and provide evidence. Not exactly sure what this was referring to and that may be a translation issue.
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It was about a MINERD tender with supposed irregularities.
Someone high up in the Ministry sought that a settlement be reached out of court with a tenderer who had made a complaint about irregularities.
Minerd proposes agreement to company that denounced rigged tender
This is all good and shows DR is on the right path to root out institutional corruption whereby officials in government favour tenderers. For some this may seem hard to understand after decades of abuse of the government coffers but after 23 months it is happening.
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1Its good, I just hope this government stays in power so the momentum continues....
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1From Dominican Today:
Two turn State witness in Dominican Republic graft case
Santo Domingo.- The Public Ministry tries to prove the functioning of the criminal structure that allegedly operated in the Attorney General’s Office during the administration of former attorney Jean Alain Rodríguez Sánchez with the testimonies of Rafael Stefano Canó Sacco, who is in Spain, and Víctor Manuel Lora Imbert.
According to the file put together by the prosecution body, the testimony of Rafael Stefano Canó Sacco, the Specialized Prosecutor for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca) proved “the way in which, from the beginning of the administration of the accused Jean Alain Rodríguez, in the function of Attorney General of the Republic, the criminal structure directed by him operated, in a coalition of officials with the accused Jonnathan Joel Rodríguez Imbert, Alfredo Alexander Solano Augusto, Altagracia Guillén Calzado, Jenny Marte Peña, and Rafael Antonio Mercedes Marte”.
In addition, it confirmed that “from the leadership of the CEI-RD, the accused Jean Alain Rodríguez formed his political structure that was later transferred to the Attorney General’s Office, in the period 2016-2020, with a much broader and more ambitious scope given the nature and national extension of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic.”
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An editorial in El Dia this morning, reflects the mood of the 'pueblo'.
The shock by Medusa
When reading the first part of the indictment of the Medusa case, the first feeling that one has is one of disbelief, given the magnitude of the fraudulent operations described there.
Then there is a state of surprise at the levels of detail contained in the accusatory text and the large number of people and institutions mentioned.
Without a doubt, we are facing one of the most extensive cases of corruption brought to justice and which also highlights the great institutional weaknesses that we have.
What is described in the accusation shows how the processes established by the laws to guarantee the proper use of public funds can be circumvented.
The accusation shows a pestilential extortion action to which the private parties agree without saying a word.
An important part of society has been shocked by what has been shown, but something very good comes to light in the middle of that sea of mud: the Public Ministry has acted independently in the initial investigation, reaching a point where the past was simply unthinkable.
Now it is up to the Justice to do its job and for the accused to use the means at their disposal to defend themselves.
The country has been shocked and is now waiting.
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1@planner
wow, right in the attorney general office, I wonder if all people were removed but where do you find the replacements?
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@lennoxnev
I am not a citizen but I hope in the end, the people will see its good for them. When the boss is telling you to look the other way or worse, you have no choice. So if we can get rid of this behavior, the people will benefit so much more. I really hope we can improve schools because it is always the next generation that can make the greatest change and has the energy and courage, to do so.
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@Karin1
Below is the best summary I have seen of the Medusa corruption case headed by the previous Attourney General with free reign by the previous government as an article in Hoy today given by Citizens Participation. This case has shocked Dominican society with its abuse of power.
The next chapter is evolving as the new proposed law relating to seizure of assets obtained illegally now and in the past makes its way through Senate and Congress with some nasty exchanges.
Perhaps impunity has an end in sight? Even thr defense has started talking about prison terms to be handed out.
Now for Anti Pulpo.... and the other 900 cases...
Overvaluations, construction defects and shortages in public works, designed and built for others, prevailing over other more reasonable alternatives, with the express intention of obtaining enormous benefits.
It defrauds the State and the population in terms of massive expenses such as food for incarcerated people.
Triangulations of purchase transactions, such as the scam for more than 12 million pesos in the purchase of a plot of land, supposedly for parking of the District Attorney's Office.
Installation of an association of malefactors, made up of friends and relatives, precisely in the institution called to prevent and prosecute corruption and crime.
Installation of a system of espionage for their own benefit, which controlled the movements, even of the members of the prosecutor's offices.
Installation of accounts and paid representatives on social networks, expressly intended to spy on and persecute critical and honest journalists, as well as to promote the image of the prosecutor, with public resources.
Recruitment of foreign advisors, with multimillion-dollar public resources, to create image campaigns and advise the head of the Public Ministry.
Destruction of evidence, theft of equipment, night raids on public offices to hide crimes and manipulate files.
Use of public offices as campaign commands, including distribution of resources in favor of the candidate and the official party.
Diversion of public resources towards personal works, such as the construction of villas.
Delivery of seized goods in exchange for alleged advertising services.
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Feisty stuff in the Senate today over the Extinction Law. Perhaps some are worried over assets? As Noticias Sin now.
"I have never been the object of any type of investigation, neither for money laundering nor embezzlement," said Lorenzo.
"You need to be told the truth, my brother," Senator Alexis Victoria Yeb said this Thursday after the complaint made by Yván Lorenzo against the Minister of Finance, Jochi Vicente, that he would have hidden around 400 million pesos in a tax haven.
"A person who has come here to damage the image of a human being who deserves all the respect of a society, you need to be told the truth, my brother, because the time for blackmail is over, the time for blackmail by your government they passed, there is the first blackmailer who is your leader who walks around like a dead kitten, and the other is in prison for blackmail, that man you are mentioning has a family, he respects human dignity, he is a professional, I love him a lot brother and I admire it, but you embarrass me," he said in the ordinary session this Thursday where the Domain Forfeiture Law is known.......
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Its getting interesting!
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The signing this week into law of the Ley de Extincion de Dominio 340-22 is a massive positive for the Dominican people and a very significant development against corruption and organized crime even if watered down to get cross party agreement:
President Luis Abinader promulgated this morning the Domain Extinction Law, in a ceremony attended by legislators from different parties, as well as government officials and personalities from civil society.
In said act, the president proclaimed this Thursday that in the country whoever has committed a crime, has profited and has subtracted a single peso from the State, now, and with the force of the law, that money must return to the State.
The president, while leading the promulgation ceremony of the Domain Extinction Law number 340-22 , in the National Palace, stated that “ in this country, whoever does it pays, and whoever steals will return what was stolen. As simple as that and as forceful as that .”
The new legal provision, previously known and sanctioned in the National Congress, implies, among other things, restorative justice . A new concept in our legal system, because the damage caused is not only sanctioned, but also restored, said President Luis Abinader.
"I also want to warn that public officials and servants who violate the provisions of the domain extinction law, including those related to the administration and disposal of assets subject to this procedure, will incur civil liability, fines of up to 400 salaries minimum of the public sector and criminal sanctions of up to five years in prison, as well as in his disqualification from the exercise of public functions, ”he sentenced.
In this regard, the government official indicated that domain forfeiture is a legal institute directed against assets of illicit origin or destination, and that, as such, it is an instrument that seeks to complement the set of institutional and legal measures that we are adapting in all the areas and from the first day of the current management.
President Abinader added that the approval of the Asset Forfeiture Law reaffirms the commitment of this Government in its fight for the transparency and institutionality of the Dominican State , as well as in the strengthening of our justice system . And it is, he added, above all, a conquest of the Dominican people, who remained attentive to the course of this initiative in the legislative chambers.
Effective response against corruption
President Abinader stated that, due to its nature and scope, the Domain Extinction Law constitutes a novel mechanism and an effective response against organized corruption, drug trafficking and other illicit activities , since it focuses exclusively on the persecution of all kinds of criminals. assets that make up the wealth derived from criminal activity.
He recalled that for too many years corruption and crime have weighed down the good name of our country; however, he warned that " now we will attack this problem at the root."
The Head of State said that Dominican men and women are honest and hard-working people; that we have earned everything with the effort of our work and the sweat of our brow.
“We are going to recover what is ours”
In this sense, President Luis Abinader stated that no one can tarnish the good name of our country nor can they go unpunished and immediately stated: “ Not anymore. We are going to recover what is ours, with determination and justice.”
The president said that it only remains that this citizen vigil is maintained at the time this law is applied, for the recovery, for the benefit of all, of the wealth illicitly obtained by a few.
Likewise, President Luis Abinader thanked the broad consensus reached among all political forces and the contributions of civil society so that this law came out unanimously.
Advanced Democracy
In this context, he explained that “the change that we introduce today in our legal system widens the margins of our country. It places it as an advanced democracy that persecutes, that sanctions and that recovers and restores the damage caused , ”said the ruler.
About the Domain Forfeiture Law
The figure of domain extinction is the procedure by which the State manages to manage and dispose of assets obtained by individuals illegally.
This law, which is being enacted today, will allow property from the main illicit acts , such as drug trafficking, terrorism, human trafficking, child pornography, organ trafficking, arms trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, forgery of coins, securities or titles, environmental crimes, contract killings, crimes and high-tech crimes, as well as crimes committed by public officials in the exercise of their functions, among others.
Along with the commission of these illicit acts, according to the law, certain causes of origin must be presented, thus ensuring compliance with the rules of due process and allowing the affected party to participate in the procedure to oppose exceptions and defenses against the claims made. be worth against the goods.
Likewise, the good faith of any legal act or business related to the acquisition or destination of goods is presumed.
Due to the relevance of these processes, they will be heard in the first degree before the criminal chambers of the appellate courts of the competent judicial department and in the second degree before the criminal chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. It will correspond to the plenary of this high court the knowledge of the appeals related to the extinction of domain.
The Public Ministry, on its side, will be responsible for initiating the action and carrying out the patrimonial investigations of domain extinction, which it can do after filing a complaint or ex officio, within the framework of its constitutional and legal powers.
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