Economist Felix Calvo, a former official of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic during the Mejia administration, writes in today’s El Caribe that Eduardo A. Masferrer, the former president of the Hamilton Bank, was sentenced to 150 years in jail by Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District Court in Miami, Florida. Calvo points out that Masferrer was sentenced for: committing fraud against financial institutions; for bank fraud; for bank fraud (second case); for betraying trust in handling third party funds; for obstructing the investigation of a financial institution; and finally, for giving false statements to government agencies. According to Calvo, this case provided a lot of surprises. The Hamilton Bank had a lot of dealings with BanInter, especially during each bank’s last months. From 2002 onwards, a lot of BanInter money was “escaped” through this bank. The name Luis Alvarez Renta shows up again and again in the 9,000 pages of the case. Calvo is of the opinion that the Central Bank should spend what it has to in order to examine this file. The young economist calls the United States justice system “very impressive.” He says that when he went to look up the files in the Masferrer case, he was surprised to find the Judge’s name engraved in stone at the entrance to the courthouse. This convinced the economist that the fight in the US against bank fraud made no exceptions and that the sentence handed down by Moore emphasized the fact that the capitalistic “good guys” were done playing games with other people’s money. Calvo says that the sentence is well written, as if to make clear for future judicial references. He cited the sentence: 360 months prison each for five counts is the same as 150 years. And this sentence was for a “patriot” who stole “a mere” US$20 million. The amount of money never entered into the verdict. The judge told Masferrer: You were given complete trust by society, and you have defrauded that society which is an aggravating circumstance. In other words, according to Calvo, “society let you live well by means of capitalism as it then existed, and you have made a mockery of society.” The economist says that this is not a bad sign, if we note that several bankers and non-banking businessmen are under scrutiny in Florida. Some will go free, while other should get the same deal as Masferrer, at 57 and facing 150 years in jail. Calvo puts the issues relating to the dealing between the Hamilton Bank and BanInter in the hands of the government. He says that this Cuban-American guy was often seen in a top restaurant on Santo Domingo’s Malecon, usually in the company of Luis Alvares Renta. Calvo himself says he was an eyewitness.