After 17 years of being pushed around the real estate legal system, the case of the Bahia de las Aguilas will finally go to court. The Dominican state is accusing a group of people of fraudulently acquiring land in the southwestern protected area. The defendants had relied on delaying tactics in the case so it could expire in court and they would be able to retain the irregularly acquired prime beachfront property. The strategy almost prevailed, in complicity with the judiciary.
Judge Alba Beard Marcos of the Land Court in the National District, heard the 21 cases yesterday, Monday 19 May from the representatives of the would-be owners of more than 1,200 title deeds situated at the Bahia de la Aguilas that the state claims have been issued fraudulently. At the end, two lots were excluded.
The other 19 cases were either rejected or judgment reserved for the trial, which will begin today, Tuesday 20 May.
The judge said it was evident the accused were still trying to delay the process, which began seven months ago. The case dates back to 5 March 1997, when then-Attorney General Abel Rodriguez del Orbe and the Title Deed Registrar, the late Piki Lora, accused a group headed by the former director of the Dominican Agrarian Institute, Jaime Rodriguez Guzman, of fraudulently distributing the land.