Nuria Piera, the Dominican Republic’s leading investigative reporter, showed proof on TV that the National Institute for Housing (INVI) issued RD$4 million in five checks made out to five low-ranking employees of the institution that were cashed by five high-ranking employees. On her Saturday TV show, Piera showed the five checks. She also alleged that an investigation of several houses supposedly repaired by an INVI home improvement program had been left untouched despite charges being made to the state for the repairs. Director Juan Manuel Vargas, director of INVI, told Piera that RD$6 million a week is being invested by the institution to repair homes of impoverished Dominicans. He ordered an investigation into why the women in whose names the checks were written, say they were unaware of the checks. He called the women “godmothers.” The Listin Diario, which carried the story, urged the government to disclose who the “godfathers” of the payments are.
