The Superintendent of Banks and the president of the Association of Commercial Banks rejected that the Dominican banking system has laundered US$1,000 million as reported in The Washington Post. "That is impossible," stated Vicente Bengoa, of the Superintendency of Banks. He also called "an exaggeration" that 500,000 Dominicans consume marihuana and cocaine. He said while drug addiction is a problem, it is nowhere at the levels mentioned by the Washington Post article which quoted an anonymous Puerto Rico police officer. Superintendent of Banks Bengoa, speaking for the government authorities, and Juan Manuel López, president of the Association of Banks, speaking for the private sector, said that as of 1993, the government has been implementing financial controls similar to those in the United States. Any person depositing more than US$10,000 or about RD$145,000, is required to fill out a form that is then sent to the Superintendency of Banks.
