Senior officials of Danilo Medina’s government in the Dominican Republic were arrested this Sunday in the context of a “complex operation” anti-corruption. These are at least 19 former collaborators of the person who presided over the Caribbean country between 2012 and 2020, including three former ministers, whom Justice links to a millionaire embezzlement and money laundering.
The arrests are the result of the so-called “Operation Squid”, launched on Saturday night “after a complex investigation conducted by the specialized prosecutor’s office for the prosecution of administrative corruption (Pepca)”, reads an official note.
Among the former Medina government officials arrested are Donald Guerrero, a former finance minister; José Ramón Peralta, former administrative minister of the presidency; and Gonzalo Castillo, former Minister of Public Works.
They are joined by Daniel Omar Caamaño, former Comptroller General of the Republic; Luis Miguel Piccirilo, former director of the State Sugar Council (CEA); Claudio Silver Peña, former director of the National Cadastre; and Oscar Chalas Guerrero and Julián Omar Fernández, former directors of Casinos and Gambling.
The prosecutor charges them with “criminal conspiracy, embezzlement, coalition of officials, forgery of public and private documents, corruption and illicit campaign financing on an unprecedented scale, money laundering, among others,” the statement added.
“Dismantled the network of corruption distracted taxpayers more than 19 billion pesos and interested institutions such as the Ministry of Finance, the Comptroller General of the Republic, the State Sugar Council (CEA), the Directorate General of National Heritage, the Directorate General of National Cadastre and the Office of State Supervision Engineers (Oisoe), among others,” that agency said.
Furthermore, he reported that “the preliminary accusation of the Prosecutor against the arrested includes behaviors typified by article 146 of the Constitution of the Republic, as well as 123, 166, 171, 172, 174, 175, 177, 265, 266 and 405 of the criminal code” .
“In addition, violations of laws 448-06 and 311-14, in addition to law 155-17, against money laundering and terrorist financing and law 33-18, on political parties, groups and movements,” he completed. .
Mass raids across the Dominican Republic
The raids were carried out in various cities of the Dominican Republic, with the participation of about 400 public prosecutor and police officials.
“As a result of the operation, which included about 40 raidsso far there are 19 people under arrest who will be brought before the judges in the next few hours”, he added, assuring that “the investigation carried out by the Public Prosecutor took several months due to its high level of complexity”.
The current Dominican president, the social democrat Luis Abinader, promised before coming to power in 2020 a crusade against the corruption denounced during the Medina administration, which ruled the country in two periods, between 2012 and 2020.
Since then, the investigation has led to multiple arrests including two brothers from Medina, who were arrested in November 2020 for alleged acts of corruption.
With information from AFP.
AND
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.