A full-page, unsigned advertisement in Diario Libre today addresses the public opinion ? the director of media regarding a ?treacherous slander campaign? against the Dominican Republic?s leading financial dealmaker, Luis Alvarez Renta. The advertisement brings up many contradictory details of the Baninter scandal involving Alvarez Renta, after the Central Bank linked him to the collapse of the bank in the statement read to the nation on 13 May.
The printed statement says that one of the obvious contradictions is the fact that, while he was clearly named on 13 May, Alvarez Renta does not figure in the legal case the government sent to the judicial system.
The statement in Diario Libre raises the question: ?Why was it not highlighted that Luis Alvarez Renta had a compensation agreement with the Grupo Progreso, and not with Baninter, during the failed merger process between these two institutions and that the information he had access to and handled was exactly the same that the Grupo Progreso received? ?
The statement maintains that Alvarez Renta was ?legally empowered? by Baninter president, Ramon B?ez Figueroa, to whom he had sold the Bank Invest company in 2001, and on whose behalf he later acted.
The point is also raised that the local press has not emphasized Alvarez Renta?s status as one of the country?s leading financial and business advisors. It points out that Alvarez Renta has played dealmaker for ?all the important businesses and companies in this country, including the leading newspaper publishing companies.?
The statement also addressed the incongruity in the way the social, economic and business press had nothing but praise for Baninter and its president, Ram?n B?ez Figueroa for the past 10 years, and how all media sought Baninter advertising until just two months ago. Today, B?ez is being portrayed by the very same media as the dregs of humanity. Nevertheless, the release does say that these views are independent of the alleged irregularities that have been evidenced in the Baninter case, which must now be judged by the courts.
The release also stresses the need for the Baninter debacle to serve as a constructive case to improve the supervision of Dominican financial institutions.