Former President Hipólito Mejía (2000-2004) is involved in another corruption scandal, this one based in Spain. Spanish daily newspaper, Elmundo.es has published the story on the Pujol company involvement in an alledgedly overpriced project. The investigations involves businessman Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, who is the son of the former President of Catalunya, Jordi Pujol.
According to the newspaper, the Spanish police have found a USB memory stick with documents showing that Pujol Ferrusola used his influence to ensure that Spanish President José María Aznar assist with a contract in which he too was involved in, in the Dominican Republic.
It concerns the building of the Merca Santo Domingo fresh produce market that began in 2001, involving a consortium consisting of a company owned by Ibadesa, owned by Jose Herrero, and also involving Jordi Pujol Ferrusola.
The consortium had difficulty raising the US$49 million project cost and so then Dominican President Hipólito Mejía sent a letter to his Spanish counterpart giving priority to this work. The contract was then signed in December 2000 by the then secretary of State for Agriculture but there were allegations that it was overvalued by 153%.
Read more in Spanish:
Al Momento
El Mundo
15 March 2017
