Procurement Agency director Carlos Pimentel says that the complaints about irregularities in the tender carried out by the Ministry of Education for the procurement of laptops and tablets for public school system and small business are unfounded, reports Acento. The media is following up on an original article in Diario Libre that had questioned the contracts awarded to the companies Madison Import SRL and Omega Tech. Yet Pimentel says the winners did not violate Procurement Law 340-06.
According to a publication made by the newspaper Diario Libre, the company Madison Import SRL, belongs to an alternate member of the board of the government-owned Banreservas, Anel Marcial Veras, who was appointed to that position on 21 August 2020. Diario Libre had reported that won the largest contract in the tender for 725,000 electronic devices was created in 2004 by majority shareholder Maxy Montilla Sierra, who is the brother of former First Lady Cándida Montilla. Diario Libre reported that in 2010, Montilla sold the majority shares of Madison Import to Laugama Group, a company registered in Panama that was also owned by former President Danilo’s brother-in-law Medina. That same month, the Laugama Group – which until then was called Laugama Limited Corp. According to the Panamanian Public Registry, the company again changed hands when sold to the current alternate member of Banreservas.
The businesses of the brother of the former First Lady have been questioned for alleged irregularities and alleged benefits in obtaining contracts with the Dominican state.
Acento explains that Pimentel clarified that “a person who has not been condemned by the irrevocable judgment is presumed innocent and can continue his activities.” He told Acento: “Regardless of whether we do not like it, that is what the law and regulations establish.”
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Acento
15 January 2021