The Second Investigative Court of the National District partially varied the preventive custody measures levied on former Minister of Public Works Gonzalo Castillo. Castillo is investigated as part of the Operación Calamar (Operation Squid).
On 21 December 2023, Judge Patricia Padilla lifted the house arrest of the former presidential candidate for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) in 2020. However, she left unchanged the impediment for him to leave the country and the payment of a financial guarantee of RD$20 million imposed on him in April 2023.
Upon leaving the hearing, which took more than four hours, Gonzalo Castillo described the variation of the custody measure as a Christmas gift. Likewise, he said his mother would be the first person he will visit.
The former official’s lawyers were satisfied with the decision.
Gonzalo was arrested on on 18 March 2021 along with 19 other defendants included in the so-called Operation Calamar. They are accused of being part of a network that diverted more than RD$19 billion from public assets.
Last Wednesday, 20 December 2023, the Public Ministry requested a new deadline to conclude the investigations and present a conclusive act regarding the corruption case involving former ministers Gonzalo Castillo, José Ramón Peralta, Donald Guerrero and other defendants.
On 29 November, the eight months for the case preparation granted to the Public Ministry to investigate the alleged administrative irregularities in the Medina administration had expired. The investigation is looking into embezzlement and fraud.
Lawyers Eduardo Núñez and Luis Rivas say that the investigations into the so-called Calamar case began in August 2020, so the prosecution body has been investigating its clients involved in the process for three years.
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El Caribe
27 December 2023