Isidro Mieses, the Mayor of Sabana Grande de Boya, the town in central Monte Plata province, threw a bucket of freezing water on the too-optimistic people in his town. Now Mieses tells his people that the financial wiz of the town, Mantequilla does not have the money to pay back his fund depositors. Thousands of gullible people had believed in Wilkin García Peguero’s (Mantequilla) claims that he had a unique talent to multiply depositors’ money.
Superintendent of Banks Alejandro Fernandez had alerted in September 2022 that the financial scheme promoted by Mantequilla was a pyramid money scam. Yet the Superintendent said he could not act until someone pressed a claim for non-payment. He also said the deposits were not insured by the government and people were depositing at their own risk.
By the time Fernandez warned the people, thousands had already invested in the fund the charismatic town businessman promoted. After Fernandez spoke up, the deposits trickled down to a minimum and the inevitable would happen. Mantequilla stopped paying the incredible yields that had convinced hundreds to deposit their savings.
And then came the bad news. Mantequilla first said he would pay back the deposited money, not the profits. But as hundreds showed up to get their money back, the fund offices shut down. The fund needed new depositors to pay back the cash and these were no longer coming.
El Nuevo Diario reports that on the evening of 18 October 2022, Wilkin García’s father had to flee his home after an enraged investor set fire to a tire in front of his house. Reports indicate the family members fled in a pickup and were followed by enraged investors on motorcycles that demanded the return of the fund money.
At the end, the vehicle crashed and Mantequilla’s 52-year old step mother Dulce María Romero, and an employee, 34-year old Kelvin de Jesús Felipe Reyes were killed in the accident. García’s father survived the accident and was hospitalized in Santo Domingo.
Legislators say that the authorities should have alerted people many months ago to avoid the escalating of the situation as more people bought into the promise of going from rags to riches.
Media reports say that all is back to calm in the town of Sabana Grande de Boya as the people await if the government is going to come to their assistance.
Read more in Spanish:
N Digital
Altagracia Salazar
N Digital
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Somos Pueblo
El Dia
20 October 2022