Former Education Minister Roberto Fulcar has not been available to speak to the public after his removal from the position in August 2022. The removal coincided with the publishing of an investigation that the Ministry of Education had approved the purchase of digital books by a company presided by a chauffeur.
Fulcar is now known to be in the United States. The family has said he suffers from severe ulcerative colitis and was operated at Massachusetts General Hospital. The family held a press conference on 16 January 2023 and announced Fulcar needs a second surgical procedure in Boston as he recovers.
The family took the time to announce it will be suing former member of the Chamber of Accounts Maximo Castillo Salas for defamation. As reported in Hoy, Roberto Fulcar’s lawyers are prepared to sue for RD$10 million.
As reported in Hoy, deputy Julito Fulcar (in representation of his brother) is suing before the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the National District, the former member of the Chamber of Accounts. In the name of Roberto Fulcar, the legal defense requests that in criminal matters, Castillo Salas be sentenced to the maximum penalty established in Law 53-07.
The complaint accuses Castillo Salas of violating Articles 367 and 371 of the Penal Code; and Article 21 of Law 53-07, on Crimes and High Technology Crimes, which typify and punish defamation committed through electronic media.
In addition, it points out that Castillo Salas alleged and affirmed, through the YouTube program “Las Exclusivas de José Peguero” that Roberto Fulcar, as a result of his recent trip to the United States, has been in contact with US authorities to offer information on drug trafficking actions related to the electoral campaigns of personalities, current government officials and legislators.
Specifically, the complaint alleges that Castillo Salas has accused Roberto Fulcar of collaborating with the judicial authorities of the United States in the proceedings against former mayor Yamil Abreu and congressman Miguel Gutiérrez, currently imprisoned in the United States, about “an alleged exchange of money from drug trafficking to finance José Ignacio Paliza, current Minister of the Presidency; Eduardo Estrella, current president of the Senate, and the electoral campaign of current President of the Republic, Luis Abinader.
The family of Fulcar complained that the disclosure of information was also featured on “El Sol de la Mañana,” conducted by journalist Julio Martinez Pozo, via radio, and had massive repercussions in different social networks and other media. The spreading of the information caused serious damage to the image, moral and good name of Roberto Fulcar, and is why the defamation charges are presented.
The lawyers for the case are Melania Ingrid Hidalgo Martinez and Edwin Acosta.
After being removed from the Ministry of Education, President Luis Abinader named Fulcar minister without portfolio based at the Presidential Palace. All throughout his two-year term at the Ministry of Education, the government ministry with the most budget, Fulcar made headlines for major wasteful spending and irregularities in contracting. Nevertheless, state prosecutors have not presented charges against him.
During the local press conference, relatives of Minister of Education and current Minister of State without portfolio Roberto Fulcar will undergo a second operation for the severe ulcerative colitis from which he suffers. Fulcar’s brother, Julito, is the spokesperson for the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) in the Chamber of Deputies.
The declarations on the state of health of the former minister were made at the end of a press conference where the Fulcar family announced that they had initiated a lawsuit against a former president of the Chamber of Accounts, Máximo Castillo Salas, for defamation.
Roberto Fulcar was the campaign manager for President Luis Abinader into the 2020 presidential election.
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Hoy
Diario Libre
17 January 2023