help-- extortion!

Kozy

Member
Jun 1, 2002
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Please help, as I am in need of sound legal advice. My dominican friend is the victum of an extortion plot. He has no money, no political influence. What he does have is a gringo friend(me), so these people are attempting to extort money from him, believing his gringo buddy will help him out.
My friend has formally been charged with raping a minor(the girl is 14). Since he has not turned himself in to the police, he is currently a fugative of the law.
He is innocent. The night of the alleged incident, he was more than 100 miles away. He has countless eye witnesses to verify this fact-- that he wasn't even in the same city as where the alleged crime was commited.
Within hours after the alleged rape, the family contacted a lawyer, who contacted my friend and demanded 1,000,000 pesos to drop the case. A week later the price went down to 500,000. This week it has fallen to 100,000. Even if he had the money, which he does not, he would not pay, because that would imply guilt.
Here is my question: In this case, is it true that if he turns himself into the police, he cannot post bail, and thus must remain in jail until the trial?
Also: can the criminal charge be dropped if this girls family so chooses? I know in the US one cannot drop a criminal charge, simply because the plaintif wants too. A criminal case can't be settled out of court in the US. What about the DR?
My friend believes he will be raped immediately if he goes to jail to await tial, since he himself is accused of rape. He says thats the way it is in the DR. What should he do? Thanks ahead for any advice- this is a very terrible situation. T.M.
 

Fabio J. Guzman

DR1 Expert
Jan 1, 2002
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Tim Moller said:
He is innocent. The night of the alleged incident, he was more than 100 miles away. He has countless eye witnesses to verify this fact-- that he wasn't even in the same city as where the alleged crime was commited.

If this is true, any criminal lawyer worth his salts could get him out of trouble.

Articles 330 to 332 of the Penal Code deal with rape. Only individuals charged with incestuous rape cannot benefit from bail (Article 332-4).

The criminal charge cannot be dropped just because the victim's family wants to. However, if the victim and her family do not cooperate it will be difficult to convict him.
 

Jim Hinsch

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Jan 1, 2002
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Sounds like an inside scam to me.

I had this one good Dominican friend. I had known him for years. We hung out together. He was a street tigre welching off tourists and I used to give him money here and there. Not too much, it depended on his story. He was creative.

One day his wife he and I and his wife are standing around in Boca Chica. A uniformed policeman walks right up and starts talking to her. My friend gets in the cops face. Next thing, the cops say "you're coming with me". He resists, it gets ugly, he gets cuffed, taken to jail. I follow. A big crowd had gathered. We are all standing outside the police station.

A policeman comes out. Walks right into the crowd, right up to me, and says "come". I nervously follow. We go into the station into a room, where he leaves me with my friend. My friend is crying hard. He says they are charging him with assaulting an officer and that unless he pays RD$5000 right then and there, he will spend years in prison. What about his wife and kids? Can I pleeeaaase help him?

"Sorry" I say, and walk out. He was out the next day. It was a setup and a scam. What theatrics though! I mean they were all good at playing their part! Funny thing is, I didn't "not pay" because I knew it was a scam, and later, just about anybody that had been there KNEW it was a scam being run.

Apparently it's common. Fake arrest, major jail time threatened, gringo friend please save the day, gringo pays.

Another one is: Girl is underage. Girl claims 18. Girl has sex with Gringo. Girl's father has police arrest gringo. Major charges threatened. Gringo pays for freedom, usually leaves country and doesn't come back. Girl, father, police, smile.

That's why "Cuidado con quien tu andas".
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
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Sad but true !!! Too many times we've

witnessed something along these lines.
Happens too often when the corruption has spread to the front lines as it has in the DR.
We've had urgent calls to Canada because a "friend" was seriously injured in an accident and was in hospital and needed money for doctors,medicines and treatment. Good thing we have other friends who made the trip to hospital to check things out for us. Only once has the "story" been true!
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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That "STORY" has "Wiskers"!

"Help-Extortion" is right,but it is YOU who should be saying it!I have heard variations on that theme many times.Right now a friend of mine from Philadelfia(who is about 75 years old,no fool like an old fool!)is paying to get his long time dominican friend,read "leech",out of jail.He has been sending money for about a year and a half,(since his last visit)My bet is that his "LEECH" will finally be released just before my friends next visit!What do you think? CRISCO