Muckracking journalist Marino Zapete reveals that the Presidency says there is no record of President Danilo Medina authorizing then Minister of Public Works Gonzalo Castillo to sign controversial contracts for asphalt works worth around a billion pesos with Grupo Asimra SRL. Zapete has made public that the contracts were conditioned in writing to Castillo receiving the power of attorney (authorized by President Medina) to sign on behalf of the government. Zapete also revealed evidence of RD$70 million in campaign contributions made by Asimra to the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and the Medina presidential campaign in 2016.
Zapete has also protested the denial of the judge hearing the defamation suit to call the president of Asimra to testify, nor the persons signing the contracts with the former Minister of Public Works.
The Grupo Asimra SRL contracts were signed on 10 June 2013 by Massiel Uceta Sánchez and those of 1 November and 30 November 2017 by Maybeth Rodríguez Sánchez (sister of Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez).
Maybeth Rodríguez Sánchez is suing Marino Zapete for defamation.
Zapete has presented evidence of the disbursement of more than RD$1 billion based on the contracts signed by the then Minister of Public Works.
Zapete has protested he is the one standing trial for defamation, while the evidence of the violation of procurement law is ignored by the judicial authorities. “How is it possible that this cannot be presented in the court as evidence,” he said when presenting his case on the Rumba de la Tarde radio talk show to defend his legitimate right to defense.
Gonzalo Castillo is running for President for the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) with the backing of President Danilo Medina.
On 26 June 2019, investigative journalist Alicia Ortega had called for the Attorney General to investigate new evidence that tied the former Minister of Public Works and current PLD presidential candidate to the Odebrecht bribe-paying scandal.
TV journalist Huchi Lora criticized that the opposition had not called for an investigation of the evidence presented by Marino Zapete and Alicia Ortega of illegal contracting of PLD presidential candidate. The evidence is in documents that are certified by the government.
On the El Dia television show, Deputy Robinson Diaz (PRM-Santiago) said that, given the lack of action from the Dominican judiciary, they would call for questioning in the Chamber of Deputies. The president of the Chamber of Deputies is Radhamés Camacho, a strong follower of President Danilo Medina.
“We are noticing that the judiciary will not act. We are not talking about defamation or not, but regarding the three contracts that have violated the procurement law,” said Diaz in an interview on El Dia.
Furthermore, Deputy Henry Meran, spokesman in the Chamber for those who follow former President Leonel Fernández, also called for the Chamber to review the evidence presented by journalists Marino Zapete and Alicia Ortega.
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3 February 2020