A woman who accompanied Juan Antonio Turbi, the headline making gasoline station owner, described the incident in which an attempt was made to take Turbí’s life. She said that on the evening of Tuesday, February 6th, as they drove their Range Rover along Estrella Sadhala Avenue in the City of Santiago, two men approached on a motorcycle. They wore helmets and dark glasses and so she could not comment on their appearance. Two bullets struck Turbí one passed through the left elbow and entered his chest and the other the other lodged in his lower neck. He is recovering in the Corominas Hospital. Dr. Nelson Baez Noyer described Turbi’s condition as stable. Turbí owns several gasoline stations in Santiago, La Romana and Santo Domingo, where he refunds two pesos per gallon on every sale on Sunday, thereby effectively selling gasoline at two pesos below the official rate. In an interview with the magazine, Rumbo, last week, Turbi said that he had received a death threat for selling gas below the market price while attending a gasoline retailing meeting in Bavaro. He explained that he believes in "free enterprise and competition in the consumer’s interest." Turbi’s first tactic was to lower the price of gasoline at the pump. However, the gasoline retailers association prevailed on the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to prohibit the sale of gas below the governmentally fixed rate. Turbi promptly introduced a rebate system. The Santiago correspondent of Listin Diario speculated that the assassination attempt might be related to Turbi’s involvement in mortgage foreclosures, in which he has been involved. Turbi began his business career working with lawyers on foreclosure proceedings as was involved in many disputes as a result. Prior to this case, he has been involved in several violent incidents, including an attempt to burn his car.
