The Attorney General Office had little to say about the international investigations into alleged corruption in the case of the purchase of Brazilian Super Tucanos during the Fernandez administration. In response to press inquiries, the Attorney General Office confirms there is an ongoing international investigation in which the Dominican Republic has participated in compliance with Art. 46 of the United Nations Convention on Corruption, and the United Nations Convention on Organized Transnational Crime. It adds that in the interest of the success of the international investigation there is a commitment for confidentiality in the current case.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the United States and Brazilian authorities are investigating the sale of airplanes by Embraer SA, through bribes allegedly made to high-ranking military officers in the Dominican Republic and Argentina. Investigations into the purchase by the Dominican state of eight Super Tucano aircraft during the President Leonel Fernandez government have revealed that the Brazilian company could have incurred in bribery in order to push through the sale. For the purchase, the government took on a US$93,697,887 debt with the Brazilian export promotion bank, the BNDES.
El Dia confirmed that Colonel Carlos Piccini Nunez, mentioned in the story as key in the US$3.5 million extra payment made, is an active officer in the Air Force assigned to escort former minister of the Armed Forces, Major General Pedro Rafael Pena Antonio, who was in the position when the purchase was made. Pena Antonio was chief of the Air Force when negotiations for the purchase of the Brazilian jets began and Piccini Nunez was director of special projects for the Armed Forces.
At the time of the purchase, Senate president Reinaldo Pared Perez rallied for the passing of the purchase contract.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/brazil-files-bribery-charges-in-embraer-aircraft-sale-to-dominican-republic-1411502236
http://www.dr1.com/forums/government/145897-senator-high-ranking-military-officials-received-kickbacks-super-tucanos.html
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/2014/09/25/i173154_pared-perez-pide-investigar-denuncia-tucanos-pero-2008-critico-diputados-pld-opuestos-prestamo.html
http://acento.com.do/2014/opinion/editorial/8177740-procurador-general-guardar-silencio-sobre-los-tucano-es-complicidad/