DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

A “serious conflict of interest” has made the news after Nuria Piera revealed that a man listed as president of Goldquest has served as a fixed advisor to the Minister of Mines and has been on the Ministry of Energy and Mines payroll for years. Julio Ernesto Espaillat Lamarche simultaneously held roles in the private mining sector and the Dominican government, according to investigations carried out by Nuria Piera Investiga and released on 9 May 2026 in the Channel 9 program.

Espaillat Lamarche appears as a former president of GoldQuest, the mining company that proposes subterranean mining in an area banned by Dominican law. Piera says he continues in the company’s corporate registries.

Legal implicationsThe Nuria Piera report cites Law 41-08 on Public Function, which prohibits public servants from intervening in the procurement of concessions or benefits that imply...