- Thread starter ADECA
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Police operation today to arrest Canoa and 9 accomplices
If he gets released on bail again, does that mean he will be back "at work" as usual?
His hearing on bail or preventive detention is going on right now. If he is released, it will be a little difficult to continue business as usual. The Public Ministry has instructed BanReservas to cease the monthly central government allowance to Cabarete. So with no money except for what he gets from extorsion, and a probably dispirited staff under criminal investigation, it probably won't be the same old party.
Well, Canoa pulled it off again. This is the second time Canoa has disappeared for a day or two after an attempt was made to arrest him. This time like, last time, it seems he was busy making sure he had a guarantee that he would be released before turning himself in. And, not suprisingly, the timing of his surrender guaranteed that he'd get the same judge that released him last time. Prior to the hearing this afternoon that was to decide between bail and jail time, an associate of his told the claimants in the case that Canoa already knew he would get out with neither bail nor jail time. His minions who were charged with him and appeared earlier were at least required to post bail.
Where Canoa is a bit of an exception is he doesn't care how obvious his corrupt manuevers are. In fact, the more obvious, the more he likes to show it off. His lawyer now is Pedro Balbuena, the former president of the appeals court in Puerto Plata who recently resigned saying he wasn't getting paid enough. The judge who yesterday released Canoa for the second time on charges that merited preventive detention is Osiri Reyes, a relative of Pedro Balbuena. And then of course Canoa had to broadcast through his followers that Canoa had the fix in before he even appeared in court. To some in the system, that is bad form.
This is the old way things are done, I am optimistic and see that the country is slowly heading in the right direction. These old timers like Canoa will retire of over time. In Santo Domingo that generational change in government offices is clearly visible
For Cabarete, the fact that it is not Dominicans going after Canoa but a couple of gringo is not helping to solve the problem. They are not going to take out a cash cow because a couple of gringos says so... They will take the gringo out first, this their show not ours...
For Cabarete, the fact that it is not Dominicans going after Canoa but a couple of gringo is not helping to solve the problem. They are not going to take out a cash cow because a couple of gringos says so... They will take the gringo out first, this their show not ours...
Fredo, you have bought into Canoa's propaganda if you think his only problem is with a couple of gringos. True the leadership of ADECA in recent years has been long-time expats, but most of the board consists of Dominican business people. And in the two similar falsification cases that this thread has addressed the victims bringing the charges are Dominican, including the vice-sindica.
You are right that there are some winds of change in the capitol, and the cases against Canoa would not have gotten anywhere if it were not for those changes. Every case against Canoa starting in 2009 got blocked during the administration of Leonel. Only with Danilo's attorney general Dominguez Brito did things start to move again. What is playing out now with Canoa is the resistance of the old guard network in the province of Puerto Plata. As Brito himself said in an interview when he talked about Canoa, it's an uphill battle fighting corruption when you've got corrupt judges. And he probably can't make much headway against some of the big fish. But Canoa is a relatively small fish, and I'll bet on Brito not letting this one get away.
You are right that there are some winds of change in the capitol, and the cases against Canoa would not have gotten anywhere if it were not for those changes. Every case against Canoa starting in 2009 got blocked during the administration of Leonel. Only with Danilo's attorney general Dominguez Brito did things start to move again. What is playing out now with Canoa is the resistance of the old guard network in the province of Puerto Plata. As Brito himself said in an interview when he talked about Canoa, it's an uphill battle fighting corruption when you've got corrupt judges. And he probably can't make much headway against some of the big fish. But Canoa is a relatively small fish, and I'll bet on Brito not letting this one get away.
Small fish? Really? Oh jesus thats depressing. If someone who has stolen so many millions of pesos is considered small-fish then i really dont want to hear what the 'big-fish' have been up to
Adeca's leadership.... realy... from what I hear Adeca is Cabarete biggest problem, Adeca effectively scared all investors away.
So bad that the local promoters took their cash and took it to Punta Cana. Millenium II is not going to be build in Cabarete but in Bavaro instead as a direct result of Adeca's interference.
Somebody needs to make a study and calculate the real damage Adeca's actions has done to Cabarete's micro economy.
Devaluation of existing real estate, unemployment, loss of investment momentum.. etc..
So bad that the local promoters took their cash and took it to Punta Cana. Millenium II is not going to be build in Cabarete but in Bavaro instead as a direct result of Adeca's interference.
Somebody needs to make a study and calculate the real damage Adeca's actions has done to Cabarete's micro economy.
Devaluation of existing real estate, unemployment, loss of investment momentum.. etc..
May I ask you why exactly this investors changed to another place? Can the reason be,that they wanted to build constructions in a height , what could destroy the good surf-conditions in the Cabarete-Bay, refering to the wind regime?
"11-21-2013, 10:47 PM #17
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The Malteese guy, Ian Schiembre, is still riding high, and still bribing officials to get to build what he shouldn't be allowed to build or where he shouldn't be allowed to build. In Cabarete, where he managed to wrest control of Azurro from the legal owners a few years back, he managed to get a special midnight presidential decree from Leonel when he was leaving office to build 6 stories on the beach. It must have been one hell of a donation to FUNGLOBE. The regulations in Cabarete only permit 3 stories right on the beach. He has no permit from MITUR to build, but the heavy machinery is at work on the property nonetheless. He is in a completely different league than Canoa."
Just asking, I'm not in business here, no surfer, just living private.
It is a bit off topic, but let me respond to what Fredo says he has heard about ADECA. In 2009, a team of professionals from the Ministry of Tourism, after many consultations with the public in Cabarete, prepared a land use plan for Cabarete that was approved by presidential decree. The principal purpose of the plan was to foster controlled sustainable growth in Cabarete. It created defined zones throughout Cabarete, with defined density limits and building height limits. The planners took into consideration that wind sports were an important aspect of the tourism economy of Cabarete and they applied known aerodynamic principles regarding the negative impacts of tall buildings on the shoreline on the beach and the wind conditions on and near the shore. Millenium is an example of a development built consistent with those regulations that limited the part closest to the shore to two stories and allowed 3 stories behind that and 4 stories further back.
Traditionally builders could pretty much build whatever they wanted by paying off the Vice Minister of Tourism, but this began to change with the establishment of the plan and regulations. Authority for MITUR permits passed to the technical side of MITUR that based approvals on consistency with the plan. The one legal way to get around this is to get a special presidential decree that overides the regulations for a particular project.
ADECA has supported the MITUR plan for Cabarete as part of a general position supporting the rule of law and reducing corruption in Cabarete. However, there are a few builders that feel that these regulations constrain their opportunities for a quick profit, and it is convenient for them to say that were it not for ADECA more projects would be moving forward. But Millenium I was built consistent with the regulations and looks to be a profitable investment. A number of the sizable projects that have been proposed at one point and have not gone forward, like Fountains or Amber Dunes, can be explained by the fall off in tourism in the area and the resultant questionability of the project in the current environment. The MITUR building regulations are not the reason.
Traditionally builders could pretty much build whatever they wanted by paying off the Vice Minister of Tourism, but this began to change with the establishment of the plan and regulations. Authority for MITUR permits passed to the technical side of MITUR that based approvals on consistency with the plan. The one legal way to get around this is to get a special presidential decree that overides the regulations for a particular project.
ADECA has supported the MITUR plan for Cabarete as part of a general position supporting the rule of law and reducing corruption in Cabarete. However, there are a few builders that feel that these regulations constrain their opportunities for a quick profit, and it is convenient for them to say that were it not for ADECA more projects would be moving forward. But Millenium I was built consistent with the regulations and looks to be a profitable investment. A number of the sizable projects that have been proposed at one point and have not gone forward, like Fountains or Amber Dunes, can be explained by the fall off in tourism in the area and the resultant questionability of the project in the current environment. The MITUR building regulations are not the reason.