The Santiago prosecutors say they will appeal the sentence by the Santiago court that ruled in favor of several accused in a case of estimated RD$100 million fraud in Customs in Santiago. The fraud went public in July 2010, but later the victim of the fraud, the Santiago Customs, desisted from pressing charges. Several of the accused were sons of high up PLD politicians. The Santiago prosecutors, nevertheless, continued the case.
Prosecutor Luisa Liranza said that they will appeal based on the evidence presented during the trial that she says was sufficient to incriminate the accused.
They are appealing the judgement by the Segundo Tribunal Colegiado of Santiago that sentenced José Rafael Marte to eight years in jail, Gibrand Aburkama Martínez to five years in jail and Adalberto Rosa Rosario to two years in jail at the Rafey-Hombres in Santiago. The prosecutors are also appealing the decision of illegal possession of firearms handed out to Rosa Rosario, while the other two for asset laundering with illegal assets from drug trafficking.
Three others included in the case Miguel Ángel de Jesús Lazala, Herald Estévez Peña and Héctor Manuel García Ortega, whose charges were not pursued due to lack of evidence.
The judges that issued the sentences were Osvaldo Castillo, Martha del Carmen Martínez, and Esther Carolina Reyes Aracena.
Former Santiago prosecutor, Yeni Berenice Reynoso, who presented the original charges, observed that it appears that the cash and the weapons seized in 2010 have “evaporated into thin air”. The National District prosecutor was in charge of the investigation of the Customs fraud estimated at RD$100 million in 2010. She noted that the judges focused on sentencing the accomplices, not so those that evidence showed were the authors of the crimes.
Read more in Spanish:
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/justicia/fiscalia-de-santiago-apelara-sentencia-que-descarga-tres-acusados-en-desfalco-a-aduanas-DA9211665
http://www.lainformacion.com.do/noticias/ciudad/102299/yeni-berenice-cuestiona-fallo-justicia-en-caso-desfalco-aduanas
19 February 2018
