Prosecutors for the state continued the preliminary hearing of several of those implicated in the Odebrecht scandal involving some US$92 million (over RD$4.5 billion at today’s rates) in bribes to obtain large government contracts. The prosecutors read a long list of evidentiary materials together with eight testimonials, 25 pieces of materials and presented a stack of supposedly incriminating documents. The prosecution also produced the plea agreement between the Attorney General and Odebrecht and the accompanying judicial resolution of the same. The hearing lasted nine hours as the defense lawyers asked that the statements of the Odebrecht officials be read in their entirety. The hearings will resume later this week as the defense lawyers go over the evidence presented by the prosecutors. Rondón has said that he will collaborate with the AG, as long as any repayment is out of the question. In one interview, he said that he “only received US$79 million for ‘his services’”.
The case continues this week with the accused now presenting their defense statements.
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El Caribe
4 February 2019
