Diario Libre reports that at least two senators and nine deputies have direct ties to the business of sports betting and gambling. This includes three deputies and a senator of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), three deputies of the opposition Revolutionary Modern Party (PRM), two deputies of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) and one of the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC).
The investigation was published after the Senate amended the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Bill (Ley de Lavado de Activos y Financiamiento al Terrorismo) to exclude betting shops from the bill. The bill had passed in the Chamber of Deputies.
Diario Libre investigative report mentions the following congress members are in the gaming business:
Pedro Alegría, senator for San José de Ocoa for the Bloque Institucional Social Demócrata (BIS) is the owner of the Lotería Electrónica Internacional Dominicana S.A. (Leidsa).
Senator for Santiago Rodríguez for the PLD, Antonio de Jesús Cruz Torres is the owner of the Antonio Cruz betting shops. He has been a senator for three terms.
PRM deputy for Santiago Francisco Santos Sosa is the owner of the Nave betting shops. He voted in favor of the betting shops being included in the Money Laundering bill when it was voted on in the Chamber of Deputies. As reported in Diario Libre, he said the sector needs order. He observed there could be around 200,000 betting shops nationwide, of which only 30,000 are legal.
Luis Alberto Tejeda Pimentel, PLD deputy for Santo Domingo, is the president of the La Soñadora betting shops.
Orlando Antonio Martínez Mena is PRM deputy for Monseñor Noel province and owner of Bancas OM.
Manuel Miguel Florián Terreno, PRM deputy for Barahona province, is the owner of the Consorcio de Bancas M&M betting shops.
Rafael Abreu, PRD deputy for San Cristóbal, is the owner of the Abreu betting shops in San Cristóbal. Abreu, nevertheless, says he operated in the business from 2009 to 2011, but not using the brand Abreu. He said he is no longer in the business.
Santo Ramírez, deputy for PRD in Peravia, is the owner of the betting shops in his province.
Melvin Alexis Lara is deputy for the PRSC in the province of Santo Domingo and owner of the Alex Lara betting shops.
Domingo Baret (Francis Gas) is PLD deputy for the province of Santo Domingo and owner of betting shops.
Luis Manuel Henríquez Beato, deputy for PLD for the province of Santo Domingo, was the right hand of late mayor Juan de los Santos in Santo Domingo Este, a leading betting shop entrepreneur prior to his murder. Diario Libre reports that Henríquez is also in the betting business.
As reported in Diario Libre, the president of the Commission of Justice of the Chamber of Deputies, Henry Merán said they are awaiting for the bill that was amended in the Senate to be returned to the lower house.
“It is evident that sectors that are involved in the business can lobby to pass a bill that does not affect what they understand are their interests,” he said.
In an editorial on 23 May 2017, the newspaper’s managing editor Ines Aizpún writes: “The illegal betting shops have to be closed down. If the authorities do not combat this tax evasion (starting by in the drafting of laws) then they will not have moral authority to pressure formal businesses.”
Diario Libre on 24 May 2017 editorialized again on the exclusion of the betting shops from the anti-money laundering bill. Executive editor Adriano Miguel Tejada remarks on how surprising for everyone the government’s defense of the exclusion has been. He writes that the defense of the exclusion draws attention, because it is contrary to everything the government has preached, and given that it is happening when the conduct of party officials and the administration itself is being questioned. “Something smells funny”, he remarks. “Include the betting shops in the bill and give an example that here we do not tolerate money laundering mechanisms,” concludes Adriano Miguel Tejada, executive editor.
Lawyer Ramón Emilio Núñez told Diario Libre that the exclusion means the supervision on the betting shops will be less. Lawyer Amadeo Peralta concurs saying that the exclusion means that the authorities will not be obliged to investigate these and the betting shops will not be obliged to provide information when it is requested. “I hope the Chamber of Deputies modifies the bill and includes the betting shops where it is evident there is laundering of assets given the proliferation of the betting shops without any control,” he observed. He disagreed with the argument for the exclusion made by Presidency Minister Gustavo Montalvo that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF-GAFI) does not include the betting shops, saying that every country has to legislate given its own reality.
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Diario Libre
24 May 2017
