Participación Ciudadana (PC), a local chapter of Transparency International, says there are unjustifiable errors and exclusions in the Odebrecht bribe scandal file.
Judge Francisco Ortega on Wednesday, 8 June 2017, issued pretrial detention, house arrest and bail against 13 of 14 former government officials and businessmen accused at the opening of the case.
Following this decision, PC said in a statement that although the Public Prosecutor’s file “showed sufficient evidence” against the accused, “it was an ominous sign that the documents drafted by the prosecutors were littered with unjustifiable errors. Although these errors did not affect the requests for pretrial detentions or prevented the investigations from moving forward, PC worries that the overall case may eventually be weakened by the errors. The PC reminded the public that this is most important case in the country and demanded that the prosecutors develop the strongest cases possible.
PC is optimistic that the errors can be corrected during the eight months the Public prosecution will now have to complete the investigation and file an indictment. PC alerts that care should be taken to not commit any new errors.
PC also commented on the concentration of arrests on two projects that only represented 5% of the total investment in the 17 public works. The civic groups criticized that the prosecutors did not identify the senator and deputy who allegedly had received bribes for the passing of the funding for the Punta Catalina thermoelectric power plant, the largest Odebrecht project in the country.
The civic group also criticizes that the documents received from Brazil do not present the list of all those receiving bribes, but this list was the justification for the impunity deal signed with Odebrecht. The deal established the company would pay US$184 million, or the double of the US$92 million in bribes, would reveal the names of the beneficiaries, in exchange for Odebrecht employees and associated companies not to be tried in the Dominican Republic.
“The multiple implications of the Odebrecht scandal reveal the level of decay and corruption of the party system, the overpriced cost of politics and the failure of the country’s oversight and control agencies,” PC said. PC called for actions now to implement structural reforms to avert the enormous corruption and impunity that overwhelms the country.
Those under pretrial detention are:
Former Minister of Public Works Victor Díaz Rua and his legal advisor Conrad Pittaluga: nine months in Najayo jail.
Former deputy Ruddy González, former president of the Senate and president of the PRM opposition party Andrés Bautista and Minister of Industry and Commerce Temístocles Montás, six months in Najayo Jail.
Former administrator of the CDE César Sánchez and former manager of EgeHID Máximo de Oleo, three months in Najayo Jail.
Commercial representative of Odebrecht, Angel Rondón, one year in La Victoria Jail.
Former executive vice president of the CDEEE, Radhamés Segura and former director of INAPA, Roberto Rodríguez Hernández, nine months house arrest.
Senators Julio César Valentín (Santiago) and Tommy Galán (San Cristóbal), and deputy Alfredo Pacheco (National District), bail of RD$5 million, and a ban on these leaving the country.
The case against former technical director of EgeHID Bernardo Castellanos was separated from the others and will be heard when he is captured. An Interpol arrest order has been issued. He is known to be in Panama.
All those accused in the case have defended their innocence.
Read more in Spanish:
7 Dias
El Dia
9 June 2017
