DR1 Daily News - Tuesday, 23 May 2017

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May 3, 2000
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Presidency defends excluding betting shops from money laundering bill
JCE judges accept TSE’s political parties ranking 
Temistocles Montas meets with AG on Odebrecht names list
Where is the real Odebrecht names list?
Audit Chamber president calls for an end to corruption
No policy to go after Green Movement members
Audit completed into Diandino Peña
Haitian authorities ban products again
Medics alert to conjunctivitis outbreak
Marijuana haul
Dominicans dominate drug trafficking in Boston
First tropical wave of hurricane season
Cibao Football Club wins Trinidad Tournament
El Torito merengue concert at the National Theater



Presidency defends excluding betting shops from money laundering bill
Presidency Minister Gustavo Montalvo is pleased with Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Bill  (Ley de Lavado de Activos y Financiamiento al Terrorismo) that passed in the Senate. The bill would enforce measures in the Dominican Republic that are now globally sanctioned under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF-GAFI).

In a press release, the Presidency reports Montalvo noted that betting shops and gambling operations, while excluded from the bill due to last minute amendments submitted by the Senate, will be supervised. He said any person or company can be prosecuted and sentenced for money laundering, including betting shop and gambling operation owners. 

“The betting shop or lottery operating that launders money in the present law and in the new can be submitted to justice for money laundering,” he stated. He argued that what transpired in the reworking of the bill in the Senate was that because the betting shops and lotteries would not reach the threshold of managing transactions of US$3,000 or more as established by the FATF-GAFI standards.  

Montalvo defended the legislation saying it represents important advances in pursuing white-collar crime. He said that the authorities will have expanded powers to prosecute cases of falsifying pharmaceuticals, environmental infractions, and tax fraud, among other crimes.  He noted that the new law would not offer protections to crimes committed by government officers. 

The amendment proposed by PLD senator Charlie Mariotti has met with widespread criticism on grounds that betting shops are the business that moves the most cash in the Dominican Republic (conservatively estimated at RD$160 million a day) and will continue to be loosely regulated. 

The bill now returns to the Chamber of Deputies for the approval of the amendment that excludes betting shops from the provisions.

https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...n-gran-avance-contra-el-delito-y-la-impunidad
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/161889-Monday, 22 May 2017


JCE judges accept TSE’s political parties ranking 
The judges of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) accepted the ruling by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) that reverted their ruling on the electoral order determined by the 2016 general elections. Weeks before the May 2016 election, the past JCE board had changed the way votes for the political party ranking would be determined. When the JCE board was changed, the new judges reverted the order, but this was then set back by the TSE Resolution 013-2017 dated 21 April 2017. 

Prior to the 2016 decision by the JCE, the ranking had been determined by a counting of votes in the municipal, legislative and presidential election. For 2016, the JCE determined only the votes for the presidential election would count. In the 2016 election, the PRD allied with the winning PLD for the presidential candidate. 

This means that the new PLD ally, the PRD, would be ranked third, behind the ruling PLD party, the PRM (the party created after a division in the PRD) and the PRD. The PRSC, that in the 2016 election did not ally with the PLD as it had done in the previous three elections, would fall to fourth place. The ranking gives the parties the 1, 2, and 3 numbers in the ballot for the 2020 election. 

The decision to not contest the TSE ruling was announced by presiding judge Julio Julio César Castaños Guzmán. Other members of the JCE are Roberto Saladín Selin, Carmen Imbert Brugal, Rosario Graciano de los Santos and Henry Mejía Oviedo. The judges explained that the recourses against the TSE ruling, including that to be submitted to the Constitutional Court will not suspend the implementation of the ruling according to the law. 

Financial director of the JCE, Diómedes Ogando, explained that the ruling does not affect the distribution of funds to the political parties that obtained more than 5% of the valid votes in the 2016 general election that share 80% of the taxpayer money allotted to political parties. The beneficiariaries of the distribution formula are the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD), Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM), Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) and the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC). But he said there will be variations in the funds allotted to parties with less than the 5% of the vote that in some cases will receive significant differences in funding. In 2017, the political parties will receive RD$805,043,462. Of this RD$644,034,769 will be allotted to the PLD, PRM, PRD and PRSC. 

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...el-prd-vuelve-a-ocupar-3er-lugar-en-la-boleta
http://hoy.com.do/jce-acoge-fallo-del-tse-sobre-contribucion-economica-a-partidos/


Temistocles Montas meets with AG on Odebrecht names list
Industry and Commerce Minister Temístocles Montás met with Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez for six hours on 22 May 2017 in connection with the Odebrecht bribe scandal. Montas said he asked to meet Rodriguez after seeing that his name is on a list that is circulating in social networks in connection with the bribes for Odebrecht to secure contract work in the Dominican Republic. Temístocles Montás was accompanied by his lawyers, José de Jesús Bergés and Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez. 

After the meeting, Montas told the press that he had explained the procedures whereby the government took on public debt. While Montas today is Minister of Interior and Commerce, during the previous 12 years he was Minister of Economy. 

http://listindiario.com/la-republic...a-ser-interrogado-dice-acudio-voluntariamente
http://eldia.com.do/montas-dice-aclara-procuraduria-financiamientos-obras-del-estado/


Where is the real Odebrecht names list?
The Attorney General’s office has issued a press release stating that they have still not completed a list of those people supposedly involved in the Odebrecht corruption case. The Attorney General office argued they are strictly adhering to the legal process and all information related to the case would be released in due time and in an official manner.

The press release from the Attorney General’s office was released to coincide with the release of a list that is circulating on social media the contains the 14 names individuals who supposedly took bribes from Odebrecht.  

http://hoy.com.do/las-declaraciones-de-la-procuraduria-sobre-supuesta-lista-odebrecht/


Audit Chamber president calls for an end to corruption
The president of the Dominican Audit Chamber (CCRD), Hugo Álvarez Pérez, has said that corruption is a pandemic that adds 7% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and urged the implementation of mechanisms to prevent and stop it.

Álvarez Pérez said that support and collaboration with legislators was needed to change certain laws in order to put in place for more effective oversight of government activities, thus discouraging the poor management of public resources. Alvarez said there are three indispensable pillars to a true democracy: the supremacy of the Constitution and the laws, transparency and a culture of accountability. 

Alvarez said the Audit Chamber will begin next month to perform the audits of the works contracted to Odebrecht from 2001 to 2014, with the exception of Punta Catalina thermoelectric plant. Alvarez said the government will wait for this public work to be completed prior to beginning the audit. 

http://hoy.com.do/presidente-de-cam...orrupcion-es-pandemia-que-se-lleva-7-del-pib/
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...s-construidas-por-odebrecht.html#.WSNJwSMrKiw


No policy to go after Green Movement members
The director of the National Police, Major General Nelson Peguero Paredes, has denied that there is an institutional policy to persecute members of the Green March Movement. 

His denial was in response to the concern expressed by the Bishop of La Vega, Monsignor Antonio Camilo, following the supposed planting of drugs and attacks against those who participate in the Green March meetings. The Bishop cited the latest incident when Antonio Hero Pérez from the Marcha Verde was hit by a vehicle from behind after his participation as a speaker in the Azua march.

His car was completely destroyed and overturned after it was hit repeatedly at 7am on the Sánchez highway between Baní and San Cristóbal. The vehicle that struck him disappeared. Pérez is stable condition at a medical center in the National District with injuries to his head and back. Peguero Paredes denied involvement of the police in the incident. 

In a previous Green March in Moca, a video could prove that the police had planted cocaine into one of the organizers of the march. 

https://elnuevodiario.com.do/vehicu...movimiento-verde-que-encabezo-marcha-en-azua/
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...erseguir-a-miembros-de-marcha-verde-FK7149520


Audit completed into Diandino Peña
The president of the Audit Chamber, Hugo Álvarez Pérez has revealed that he has handed over the results of the audit into the management of the former director of the Santo Domingo Metro Office (OPRET), Diandino Peña to the Attorney General. He said he could give no more information as speaking to the press on the matter is up to Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez.

The audit was carried out at the request of Peña who asked the Audit Chamber to carry out a forensic audit of the execution of the three stages of the Santo Domingo Metro that he was in charge of when at OPRET.

http://listindiario.com/la-republic...resultados-de-auditoria-gestion-diandino-pena


Haitian authorities ban products again
Once again Haitian military would not allow those who had bought products at the bi-national market on Monday, 22 May 2017, in Dajabón to enter Haiti, alleging that the products they had bought were banned. The Dominican government has not been officially informed about the import ban.  

The Haitian authorities did exactly what they did last Friday, 19 May 2017, when they seized chicken, eggs, pasta and other products bought in the Dominican Republic. The market in Dajabon began normally at 8am until around 10am when the Haitian military started the confiscation again. They then threw the seized products into the Masacre River from the bridge that connects Dajabon with Ouanaminthe, Haiti. 

http://elnacional.com.do/militares-de-haiti-impiden-otra-vez-ingreso-productos-dominicanos/


Medics alert to conjunctivitis outbreak
The Dominican medical community is alerting for people to keep their hands away from their eyes to avoid catching conjunctivitis. The “pink eye” is spreading rapidly with many cases being reported. Conjunctivitis is highly contagious, spreading easily in family, school and office environments. 

There are three primary causes of pink eye: viral infection, bacterial infection, and allergies. The high level of humidity and dampness caused by the long running rainy season creates ideal conditions for the spread. 

The disease is characterized by the inflammation – a result of the infection itself – of the conjunctiva (the inside of the eyelids). Some of the symptoms include: redness in the white of the eye, swelling of the eyelids, itching or burning eyes, swollen and tender areas in front of the ears, tearing, clear or slightly thick whitish drainage, burning or gritty feeling around the eyes area, thick and sticky discharge, and crusting on the eyelashes. 


Marijuana haul
On Sunday, 21 May 2017, according to General Edward Sánchez, director of the Central Anti Narcotics Division (DICAN), two people were arrested transporting 144 pounds of marijuana.  The vehicle used to transport the marijuana was impounded. Those arrested are Bruno Antonio Torrez Uceta and Leonardo Toribio Pérez. Torrez Ucerta, resident in San José de las Matas was in possession of 20 packages of marijuana, a Grand Cherokee Jeep and RD$200. Toribio Pérez, had 46 pounds of marijuana.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/la-dican-decomisa-144-libras-de-marihuana-XL7148220


Dominicans dominate drug trafficking in Boston
According to a new report from the Boston Police Department, Dominican drug trafficking gangs dominate the heroin distribution in Boston, Massachusetts. 

The Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) “2016 Heroin Overdose Report” provides data on trends in opiate use in the city.

An analysis of arrest data for Class A drug trafficking which includes selling heroin, morphine and synthetic opiates revealed the majority of individuals arrested in 2016 in Boston were not US citizens, and most of those non-citizens were Dominican foreign nationals.

Of those arrested for Class A trafficking, 65 percent claimed to have been born in a foreign county. Within that group, 84 percent told police they were from the Dominican Republic. The share of heroin trafficking arrests attributable to Dominican nationals is likely even higher, the BRIC report says, because illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic often use fake Puerto Rican birth certificates to obtain state identification documents.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/05/21/police-dominican-immigrants-dominate-heroin-trafficking-in-boston/


First tropical wave of hurricane season
According to the National Meteorological Office, Onamet, the first tropical wave of the 2017 hurricane system, has arrived early as the season begins on June 1.  The wave is currently over the Mona Channel and heading towards the Dominican Republic.

It is expected to bring rain and isolated storms to the country especially in the provinces of Hato Mayor, Monte Plata, Sánchez Ramírez, La Vega, Monseñor Nouel, Santiago, San Juan, Elías Piña, Santiago Rodríguez and Dajabón.

By the end of Wednesday, 23 May 2017, the wave will have left the country and the air will have less humidity as the Saharan Dust wave moves over the island. 

http://onamet.gov.do/?param=pronostico-general


Cibao Football Club wins Trinidad Tournament
The Cibao Football Club won the second phase of the Caribbean Clubs Championship, a Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) elimination tournament. This is the most important clubs football tournament carried out in the Caribbean. 

Richard Dabas, from Moca, delivered the winning goal for the Dominican team to win 1-0. 

The Cibao Football Club won the tournament by defeating San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad in the final, becoming the first team from the Dominican Republic to be crowned Caribbean club champions and the first to qualify for the Champions League. 

It was the first time a Dominican football team (soccer) had reached the second stage of eliminations. More than 40 years ago the UCMM FC, the amateur national champions based at what is today the PUCMM, participated for the first time in the first round of the CONCACAF eliminations in Surinam.  


El Torito merengue concert at the National Theater
On Saturday, 27 May 2017, Hector Acosta is presenting his “Un Bohemio Cibaeño” concert at the National Theater. The concert was presented to two full houses at the Teatro Regional in Santiago. Joseph Tavarez, producer of the show, announces there will be special guest performances for unforgettable moments during the show. Tickets at the National Theater box office. Show at 8:30pm.