After 14 hours of questioning yesterday, the government has arrested Victor Tio Fernandez, the former director of Bienes Nacionales, the department in charge of government property. Upon his arrest, his lawyer Fidias Aristy urged the judicial authorities to look into another real estate deal. Aristy said authorities should interrogate the Secretary of the Presidency Sergio Grullon (brother-in-law of President Mejia) as well as Jose Ramon Diaz Dominguez (cousin and assistant to President Mejia), and Luis Montas. If they are not questioned, he says he and Tio will publish what they know about the case. Tio accused those officers of preventing the state from recovering land valued at more than RD$600 million in the area of Mirador del Norte Park. "I always opposed this and I warned the President about it," Tio told the press. Tio said he turned down a bribe of RD$20 million not to proceed with the recovery of the property. When asked by the press, Sergio Grullón said he had nothing to hide and said that Tio could tell what he knew. "If they have an accusation to make, let them make it," Grullon said. The Listin Diario reports that there is a contradiction in the size of the property at issue. The 2,718,000 square meter property reported by Tio coincides with the dimensions of another park, the Mirador del Este which was expropriated in 1992 during the Balaguer administration. When asked about the case, President Hipolito Mejia said that the matter is in the hands of the judiciary.
