When Felix Bautista says...

Felix Bautista scandal gathers heat
Last week leading PLD members rallied to defend their party's organizational secretary, senator Felix Bautista against accusations of corruption involving work by his construction companies in Haiti. Bautista was a struggling tailor in his hometown San Juan de la Maguana before the election of President Leonel Fernandez. His close ties to the President have led him on a meteoric rise to become one of the country's leading builders. He directed the Supervisory Office of Public Works of the Presidency (OISOE) for several years, a post he left when he won the senator seat for San Juan de la Maguana, which grants him privileged judicial status.
Leading PLD figures say the media reports are but a desperate reaction of the PRD to garner votes for former President Hipolito Mejia.
The Felix Bautista scandal has already led to the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, who had begun investigating the award of US$350 million in contracts to Dominican companies. The Miami Herald reports that Conille and Martelly were at loggerheads over issues of the nationality status of government officials - including the fact that Martelly himself has a US passport n and an investigation of US$300 million in post-earthquake contracts and who controls government ministers.
DR Prosecutor General Radhames Jimenez has asked the PRD opposition party and news media to come forward with proof of possible criminal behavior by the senator to investigate the case.
On Saturday, investigative journalist Nuria Piera released leads of possible proof to clear trafficking of influence.
Nuria Piera said that we are faced with a case of commissions over commissions and presented evidence that President Michel Martelly had received deposits from bank accounts in the DR. Reporting on the story, Haitian online newspaper Defend says that evidence was presented of at least US$2.5 million in "kickbacks received by President Michel Martelly from a Dominican construction firm owned by senator Felix Bautista." The show aired on Saturday, 31 March on Channel 9 and will be repeated on Monday, 2nd on CDN Channel 37 at 8pm.
The journalist has received copies of pages of bank statements, pay ratios, charts, transactions, schedules and list of property and businesses owned by Bautista, who is described as a close friend of President Leonel Fernandez.
Piera says that since the beneficiary Hadom company had begun operating on 4 April 2011, it was ineligible to legally receive any contracts from the Haitian state following the 2010 earthquake. Dominican Emergency Law, which allows a company to receive contracts without a tender requires a minimum five years of existence for the company to benefit. Hadom received contracts signed by former Prime Minister and current presidential advisor Jean-Max Bellerive for US$1.8 million on 8 November 2010. Bellerive has defended the legality of the transactions given the emergency situation in Haiti. He also highlights in a letter that the funds were not released until the start of the Martelly government.
"HADOM is one of the companies that got Senator Bautista contracts worth US$350 million in Haiti. Now we realize why. And US$150,000 was paid through Banco Popular account No. 766-215511 on November 5, 2011, to no more and no less Michel Martelly, president of Haiti, who was already in office as president," said Nuria Piera on the Saturday TV show.
defend.ht/politics/articles/presidential/2896-at-least-2-5-million-in-kickbacks-to-president-martelly-from-dominican-republic
M?s revelaciones de Nuria sobre los negocios del senador F?lix Bautista - Acento
Lea aqu? los documentos presentados por Nuria Piera sobre F?lix Bautista - Acento
defend.ht/politics/articles/executive/2834-haiti-former-prime-minister-defends-half-billion-in-suspect-contracts
Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille resigns after months in office - Haitian Link - MiamiHerald.com

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