The hearing of the newest highly publicized case by the Attorney General, Operation Nest (Operacion Nido), was postponed for Tuesday, 9 January 2024 after another 30 claimants joined dozens others in seeking restitution from real estate fraud. State prosecutors indicate that 300 apartments were sold, many several times the same apartment to different people, and on land that did not belong to the promoters. Around 147 claimants have presented charges.
The seven accused in the case are Dominicans Emmanuel Rivera Ledesma, his sister Mirna Catalina Rivera Ledesma, his son Emmanuel Eduardo Rivera Pichardo, his daughter María Gabriela Rivera Pichardo, his wife Escarlet Mercedes Cruz Figueroa, and collaborators Reilin Arismendy Rosario García and Juan Omar Rosario López.
The Architecture and Engineering Association (Codia) says that Rivera Ledesma is not a member of the organization. The properties that were sold did not have the completed construction permits.
The prosecutors accuse Rivera Ledesma of being the main leader of the criminal network and, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, he threatened, insulted and intimidated the victims when these requested to be reimbursed for payments made.
A first arrest order against Rivera Ledesma was issued in July 2023 but was never implemented by the Police. The prosecutors took action to arrest Rivera when the claimants, most Dominicans living abroad, took their case to the media and to the authorities in the United States. Most of the properties involved in the case would have been built in eastern Santo Domingo. The claimants were paying the promoters in installments.
The state prosecution file says that to commit the fraud, the companies used the companies Inmobiliaria & Diseños Arquitectónicos – Indisarq, SRL, represented by the accused Emmanuel Rivera Ledesma and María Consuelo Sabina Pichardo Guzmán, and the company CRD Equipos Pesados, SRL,” represented by the accused Emmanuel Eduardo Rivera Pichardo and Escarlet Mercedes Cruz Figueroa.
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Diario Libre
8 January 2024