During a court hearing for the Banco Peravia fraud case, presiding judge Luis Borges observed that the accused Nelson Cabral did not attend with his lawyer. He asked Cabral why. In response, he turned to prosecutor Isidro Vasquez who was present and said to the judge: “Ask him, because I paid him US$250,000 to resolve this.”
As reported in El Dia, everyone in the courtroom was stunned to hear this strange statement, especially because of the prosecutor’s reaction.
The presiding judge ordered the suspension of the hearing and for the prosecutor to be investigated. Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito instructed inspector general Bolivar Sanchez to begin investigations.
As reported in El Dia, it is not the first time that prosecutor Isidro Vasquez has been under investigation for allegedly receiving bribes. The first time was in 2007 when Puerto Rican Jose Antonio David Colon, arrested for drug trafficking, accused him, but then-Attorney General Radhames Jimenez dismissed the accusations.
National District prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso said that Vasquez was removed from the case, not suspended, while the investigation is underway.