Listin Diario reports today that former President Hipolito Mejia’s controversial chief of security, retired Colonel Pedro Julio (Pepe) Goico, left the country on Sunday headed for Paris after lawyers from the Castillo firm mentioned the possibility of bringing charges against him stemming from the accusations that Goico misused the Baninter credit card assigned to him to pay for the President’s expenditures abroad. Mejia took Goico on for the prestigious position while he was on bail after having been indicted in 1997 in a RD$90-million case of fraud involving the National Lottery. Mejia even reinstated the man known popularly as “Pepe” to the military, promoting him from rank of major to colonel.
Goico also was mentioned in the press regarding the charges of the irregular use of a jet and helicopter assigned to the advance team of the President, which were later confiscated for transporting drugs.
At the time of the scandal, the local press reported on a RD$40-million credit card scam, while CNN reports quantified the fraud at an estimated RD$300-million on the basis of the goods and merchandise confiscated.
The United States went public with the notification that it had cancelled Goico’s visa to travel to the US. Goico flew to Paris directly on board Air France.
Lawyer Pelegrin Castillo commented that Goico’s departure could be for an indefinite period and with the “purpose of evading the judicial process that he will have to confront once the counsel of Ramon Baez Figueroa (former president of Baninter) presents legal evidence against him.”