The Sixth Investigative Court ratified the coercive measures against all the accused in the case named Operación Nido (Operation Nest) by the Attorney General Office. The network would have scammed mostly Dominican expats living in New York for around RD$700 million.
The prosecution had ordered the arrest of the main accused Emmanuel Rivera Ledesma in July 2023, but never acted on the order until victims of the fraud sought the support of leading media in the Dominican Republic that followed up and motivated the authorities to act. The affected also took their case to US authorities and began a campaign to discourage Dominicans living abroad from investing in real estate projects. The major complaint of those affected was the lack of support action for the claimants in the local judiciary when proof of the scams was presented by local lawyers. Rivera Ledesma was not arrested until 3 January 2024.
Judge Elianny Mena scheduled the mandatory review of the preventive trial measures for Tuesday, 9 July 2024. The order for the accused to remain under preventive trial measures is because the accused are seen as people who could become fugitives of justice.
Emmanuel Rivera Ledesma has been identified by the Public Ministry as the leader of a criminal network that defrauded dozens of people with real estate. He was sentenced to 18 months of preventive detention on 11 January 2024. The judge ordered the same measure against Emmanuel Eduardo Rivera Pichardo, Mirna Catalina Rivera Ledesma and Juan Omar Rosario López.
In the Operacion Nido case, an order for house arrest and prevention of departure from the country was issued for Reilin Arismendy Rosario García.
Meanwhile, María Gabriela Rivera Pichardo and Escarlet Mercedes Cruz Figueroa were allowed to post bail for RD$5 million yet these must use an electronic locators and cannot leave the country.
The defense has said the accused will reimburse the investors in the real estate project for the deposits on projects where there was no delivery as contracted.
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Diario Libre
Listin Diario
N Digital
10 April 2024