The Justice Department (MP) applied for preventive custody yesterday, Wednesday 4 February 2015 as a coercive measure against Senator Felix Bautista and six of his associates accused of corruption and money laundering to the detriment of the Dominican state. The request is one of the conclusions that the Attorney General presented to Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) judge of Special Instruction Alejandro Moscoso Segarra, who they also asked for a decree to open a trial against the accused.
As well as Bautista, the request includes the defendants Soraida Antonia Abreu Martinez, Jose Elias Hernandez Garcia, Bolivar Antonio Ventura Rodriguez, Carlos Manuel Ozoria Martinez, Gricel Aracelis Soler Pimentel and Bienvenido Apolinar Breton Medina.
The MP representatives supported the request based on the fact that due to all the wealth owned by the defendants, which includes some 500 assets, represents a real flight risk.
“The severity of the accusations against the defendants, where it has been proven that they moved RD$25 billion, own 175 properties in luxurious high-rise apartment buildings in the Dominican Republic, apartments, building lots at Metro Country Club, airplanes, four asphalt plants, one of which is valued at US$33 million… As a result we are dealing with a very serious incident.”
With their request, the MP concluded its presentation of the evidence that supports their accusations, and now it is the turn of the defense to present their objections.
The Justice Department evidence includes testimony from 15 people, most prominently businessman Abraham Jorge Hazoury Toral’s statement related to the purchase of the “Hormigones del Caribe.”
With the statement from the businessman, the Attorney General intends to prove that Bautista acquired this company through Ozoria, in what they define as a “clear case of injecting money of illicit origin into the formal economy.” Special Prosecutor for the Persecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca) director Laura Guerrero Pelletier told reporters that the evidence that supports the accusations has been authenticated and they are therefore sure that it will pass the preliminary phase.
The defense lawyers argue that the case was already reviewed by the Attorney General Office in 2012 and filed in August 2013, and that the Supreme Court of Justice confirmed this decision. Dominican law bans a case from being tried more than once. Defense lawyer Marino Feliz also argued that the Constitution does not prohibit government officials from carrying out private work when holding office. The cases of Diandino Pena, Jose Ramon Peralta and Miguel Vargas Maldonado were mentioned, as reported in Diario Libre.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2015/02/05/i999481_ministerio-pblico-pide-prisin-contra-flix-bautista-compartes.html
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2015/02/05/i999371_defensa-flix-bautista-dice-que-investig-las-acusaciones.html