Senator Alexis Victoria Yeb (PRM-Maria Trinidad Sanchez) says that contracts benefiting his companies were signed before he was sworn in as a senator for the ruling political party. The senator has denied ownership of Cristalia, one of two companies that would have benefited from government contracting.
The senator made the remarks when responding to findings aired by Alicia Ortega during her Monday, 1 November 2021 El Informe con Alicia Ortega. The journalist said that the senator had benefited from government contracting. It is yet to be determined if this is a breach of ethics or is administrative corruption.
The investigative report said that two companies tied to the senator – Cristalia and Drodena had received upwards of RD$500 million in government contracting. This includes RD$470.5 million in supplies dispatched to 911, Promese/Cal and 14 public hospitals.
The senator said he has requested a certificate from the Procurement Agency that would prove what he is saying, that the contracts were allotted before he was sworn in as senator for the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) in August 2020.
On 2 November, journalist Alicia Ortega again presented evidence during the late evening Noticias SIN newscast on Channel 9 that the companies allegedly related to the senator had benefited from government contracting. She said to prepare the investigative report that aired on Monday, 1 November, she had already requested information on the contracting from the Procurement Agency and was sent an Excel graph that showed all the contracts with their dates of approval, according to the purchasing and contracting data. “It is there that the RD$45.7 million contract dated 13 April of this year appears. I am not saying it, the procurement and contracting data says this,” she stated. She said there are also seven purchase processes with dates from August to November 2020.
Noticias SIN criticized that Victoria Yeb used time of a Senate work session to respond to the evidence of irregularities presented in the El Informe con Alicia Ortega investigative report.
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Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
Senator Alexis Victoria Yeb
3 November 2021