One of the promoters of the artificial island to be built off the shore of Santo Domingo was convicted earlier this year by the First Criminal Chamber of the National District for presenting checks with insufficient funds to the tune of RD$300,000. Listin Diario reports that Augusto Rafael Menendez was also sentenced by the Civil and Commercial Chamber of Santo Domingo Province, which ordered the sale of a plot of land claimed by the Duarte Savings and Loans Association. Judge Francisco Ortega Polanco made the ruling against Augusto Menendez in January 2005, sentencing him to one month imprisonment and payment of a RD$300,000 fine after finding him guilty of breaking law 2859 which regulates checks. He was also sentenced to pay RD$1 million in damages to the plaintiff.