Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito says that for now, he will not be investigating the accusations of complicity with drug trafficking that a man claiming to be convicted drug dealer Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo has been making against former President Leonel Fernandez. In telephone calls to radio and TV stations, “Quirino” accused Fernandez of accepting money while being fully aware of where it was coming from.
Quirino said that he donated money for the presidential campaign in 2004 as well as made contributions to finance Funglode (the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development), which is headed by Fernandez.
According to El Caribe, Deputy Nelson Guillen and several other people, including Dr. Pedro Sing of the Dominican Medical Association, have issued statements about a smear campaign aimed at weakening the image of the former President.
Yesterday, Wednesday 18 February 2015, Quirino showed his face on a video-call with the Hilando Fino TV program. During the interview, he challenged the prosecutor to determine if his accusations are true or false. He is collecting on the “investment” he said he made when making campaign contributions to former President Leonel Fernandez. “I am a drug dealer, but I’m no thief,” he said on the TV show. “Those who know me know that I would not engage in slander. I am doing this, Leonel Fernandez, for his disloyalty, for his disrespect,” said the former army captain.
The man who says he is Quirino also called into the Movimiento Rebelde radio program presented by legislator Juan Hubieres yesterday. In this interview, he asked for forgiveness for the suffering he caused to many as the leader of a drug operation, but criticized the way that people in power and criminal organizations are applauded. He called on people both young and old to leave the drug world, and called it the most terrible war going on in the world, worse than terrorism.
He said that the fact that he had not been involved in murders or violence had helped his case in the US courts.
Quirino also claimed that Juan Marichal was present on one occasion when he delivered RD$5 million to President Fernandez.
Quirino has become the top local trending subject on Twitter. http://trendsmap.com/local/do/santo+domingo
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