The vice president of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (Finjus), Servio Tulio Castaños Guzmán criticized the agreement signed between the Justice Department and the Brazilian construction giant, Odebrecht. He suggested that the state should request to be compensated for the overpricing that Finjus says the company has admitted to in works carried out in the Dominican Republic.
The legal expert said that the company used an inappropriate model to do business with the government that led to officials signing addendums to the contracts after Odebrecht was awarded the projects through international tenders.
Castaños Guzman said: “We are looking at an emblematic case of corruption, not just for Latin America,” when he was questioned by Diario Libre reporters after participating in a roundtable discussion on security and justice.
He noted that President Danilo Medina only fires the officials involved in questionable acts of corruption, but these are never indicted and sent to trial. He cited the recent case of the director of the Corporation of State Enterprises (Corde), Leoncio Almanzar, who was recently fired after the questionable sale of land in the area of Los Tres Brazos. Readers will remember that 2,000,000m² were sold for just RD$66.00 per square meter.
16 February 2017
