Defense counsel in the corruption case known as Antipulpo has requested that the court drop the case because of the statute of limitations. This decision could affect many other of the major corruption cases currently pending in the Dominican court system.
The defense lawyers are basing their arguments on Article 148 of the Criminal Process Code, which stipulates certain time limitations for criminal proceedings. According to this article the clock starts with the first arraignments of the accused.
The major point in this instance is that a decision to drop the Antipulpo case because of a statute of limitations could well affect such cases as Coral, Coral 5G and Medusa, all of which are currently plodding along in the system.
The Antipulpo case officially began on 29 November 2020 with the arrests and searches carried out against 27 people and 21 companies, all tied to the brother of former president Danilo Medina. In the case of the Coral indictments, this case began in April of 2021, and the Medusa case filed against former Attorney General Jean Alaine Rodriguez began in June of 2021.
State prosecution built very large cases that have required complex interrogations.
And there are plenty of antecedents for the dismissal of cases, Acento points out. For example, the courts dismissed the case of the over-priced Super Tucanos aircraft purchased for the Dominican Air Force in 2016. Nobody was jailed or fined in that case.
Then, more recently, there is the case of the Tres Brazos real estate deals which was dismissed in April of 2024, to the great benefit of Lisetel Gonzalez, the major person involved in the shady dealings.
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Acento
17 March 2025