President Danilo Medina appointed Andres Bocio Fortuna counselor minister in charge of the consulate in Belladere, Haiti (Decree 330-14) earlier this week, but news media have dug up reports of his arrests for smuggling Haitians in 2007 and 2014. The media also reports that Bocio Fortuna was also investigated for trafficking in visas for travel to Spain.
A consul in 2007 during the Leonel Fernandez government, he was dismissed after charges of operating a clandestine consulate were made.
Acento reports that on 5 May 2014 he was arrested by army intelligence (G2) agents after for transporting 15 undocumented Haitians from Comendador on the border with Haiti to Santo Domingo.
Charges were never brought against him in the courts. Acento says that he was able to evade justice thanks to his connections in the PLD and the government, as he is a member of the ruling party’s Central Committee.
It also reports that in January 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Relations dismissed him as Dominican consul in Belladere, Haiti for operating two clandestine “consulates” managed by Haitian nationals and from where Dominican visas were issued without Ministry of Foreign Relations authorization.
His appointment by Medina returns him to the same consulate from where he was fired during the Fernandez government, now in the category of counselor minister, a diplomatic post.
When asked about the appointment, new Minister of Foreign Relations Andres Navarro said he was not informed about the situation.
Bocio Fortuna defended himself by saying he had worked in government all his life and had “no tail to be stepped on.”
El nuevo cónsul Boció fue acusado de traficar haitianos y estafar dominicanos
http://www.tiempocompleto.com.do/?c=142&a=46686
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2007/12/06/i160383_cancillera-suspendi-cnsul-andrs-boci.html