Judge Rigoberto Sena of the Permanent Attention Office of the National District imposed preventive custody in Najayo jail on Thursday, 11 January 2024, to the seven accused in a prominent case of real estate fraud. State prosecutors have named the case, Operation Nest (Operacion Nido). The judge also declared the case complex, giving prosecutors more time to prepare.
Emmanuel Rivera Ledesma, the main suspect accused of scamming his customers, was sentenced to 18 months of preventive detention in the Najayo prison.
Others sent to jail are Rivera Ledesma’s son, Emmanuel Eduardo Rivera Pichardo; his sister, Mirna Catalina Rivera Ledesma and the projects’ accountant, Juan Omar Rosario López.
Reilin Arismendy Rosario García is allowed domiciliary arrest and a ban on leaving the country. He is collaborating with the Public Ministry.
Meanwhile, María Gabriela Rivera Pichardo (daughter of Rivera Ledesma) and Escarlet Mercedes Cruz Figueroa (wife) were allowed to post bail, and will now need to use an electronic shackle and cannot leave the country. Rivera Pichardo was a minor when the irregularities occurred and Cruz Figueroa is breastfeeding.
The clan is accused of carrying out around 300 fraudulent sales, mostly to Dominicans living abroad. The prosecutors say the Dominicans were sold properties for which the developers did not have land title rights, the same properties were sold several times, the developers did not build what they said they would build.
Despite unfulfillment of what was offered, the real estate company was demanding heavy penalties to reimburse the customers for their advance payments.
The case went viral in social media and it was making headlines in the press. The cause was assumed by opinion leaders such as Somos Pueblo and Nuria Investigacion. It became known that Emmanuel Rivera had been in La Victoria Jail in 2017 for real estate fraud and this was why most of the accounts were in the name of his wife and offspring. Reports are that the accounts were emptied once the prosecution stepped up.
Claimants say that RD$700 million was ripped off from the buyers who did not carry out their due diligence before making advance payments to the promoters of property, mostly in eastern Santo Domingo. In the Dominican Republic, lesser-known promoters use a trust mechanism, to guarantee advance payments will be invested in the development. This was not the case in developments promoted by Indisarq and Emmanuel Rivera Ledesma.
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Diario Libre
Listin Diario
15 January 2024