Overseas Deputy Ruben Luna and the president of the PRD’s New York office, Fidel Casilla, have categorically denied that they have taken US$20,000, supposedly given to them by party president Miguel Vargas to pay off the debt for renting the office they are using.
The accusation was made by members of the party’s Executive Committee, who also suggest that Luna and Casilla are working to ensure that the PRD is evicted from this particular office so that they can use the US$20,000 to rent another office where they can control access, as Vargas followers’ did in the Dominican Republic. Luna said that he had never received a cent from Miguel Vargas for paying off the debt owed on the PRD office in New York and that on the contrary they have used their own personal money to save the office.
He lamented the fact that the Executive Committee members, who he respected highly, had made the accusation against him and Casilla, who he said was a dedicated and honest person.
He also denied he had plotted with Miguel Vargas to rent another office, saying that whilst he had met with Vargas to discuss it, no conclusions had ever been reached and that Vargas alone, president of the PRD, would have the last word about the future of the office.
Casilla also denied the accusations, describing them as “part of a macabre plan” to discredit both himself and Luna.
www.hoy.com.do/el-pais/2012/12/19/459352/Diputado-Ultramar-desmiente-recibio20-mil-dolaresde-Miguel-Vargaspara