The Ministry of Foreign Relations is investigating the Dominican Ambassador to Haiti for having received a personal check from the government of Haiti for US$48,000 intended for the promotion of a private activity in the DR. However, the diplomat acknowledges receiving only US$25,000. He insisted that a foundation of which he is head, the Science and Art Foundation, recently held a meeting with a group of Haitian civil society leaders, and the money he received was to pay for the participants’ accommodation. He admitted it was not the most adequate procedure but he accepted the personal check as there wasn’t sufficient time to write it out in favor of the Foundation. Ambassador Jose Serrulle Ramia had accepted the check from the Prime Minister of Haiti, Gerard Latortue, the check to finance a meeting with political leaders and Haitian NGOs in San Francisco de Macoris. A Ministry official stated that if a diplomat received personal funds from a government other than his own, it is a violation of the Vienna Convention. Sources close to Serrulle said that the Ministry had been informed about the check and had not objected to its delivery.