The trial of those accused of taking US$92 million in bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht opens at the Supreme Court at 3pm on Thursday, 12 September 2019. The Attorney General Office has charged six men: Ángel Rondón Rijo, Víctor Díaz Rúa, Tommy Galán Grullón, Juan Roberto Rodríguez, Andrés Bautista, Conrado Pittaluga. Investigation judge Francisco Ortega prepared the case. They are accused of bribery, money laundering, illicit enrichment and falsehood for the US$92 million that Odebrecht officers admitted in a US Court to having paid in bribes.
Contrary to other Latin American country prosecutors, the Attorney General Office has based the Dominican case on statements made in Brazil by Odebrecht officers. A recent Alicia Ortega investigative journalism report denounced that the Attorney General Office has done very little to dig up incriminating evidence in the case.
The local case only covers works carried out by Odebrecht through 2014, and excludes the most significant construction work, the thermoelectric coal-fired power plant at Punta Catalina and roadwork carried out under the Medina administration.
The defense counsel for the accused is optimistic these will be cleared for lack of valid evidence presented by the local prosecution officers.
The Dominican case against Odebrecht began in 2016 when Brazilian officers were sentenced in a New York court. There they admitted to having paid US$92 million in bribes to secure contract work in the Dominican Republic. In the first action, the local public prosecutors took action against 14 people. Subsequently, the list of accused was reduced to six.
Opposition deputy Fidel Santana said on Monday, 10 September that the Attorney General Office is covering up for the guilty. “But here, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Attorney General of the Republic; someone is waiting for something to happen about the Odebrecht investigations? I reiterate, that man (Jean Alain Rodriguez) was put there to cover up for his bosses, who are the main responsible. Nothing is going to happen,” said the congressman.
The 16 judges of the Supreme Court will hear the case because among the accused is a senator who has privileged jurisdiction. Diario Libre reports the case could take a year and a half to conclude.
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YouTube — Alicia Ortega special report from Brazil
Diario Libre
12 September 2019