A headline article in online newspaper Clave Digital reveals that business consultant Luis Alvarez Renta, who was found guilty of major financial irregularities in a Miami court last week, is pointing his finger firmly and squarely at Baninter president Ramon Baez Figueroa. Alvarez Renta blames Baez Figueroa for the colossal fraud that brought down the bank and all but decimated the Dominican economy in 2003. Alvarez Renta, who has been closely associated with the banking collapse, claimed he had no part in it and that Ramon Baez Figueroa and his deputy Marcos Baez Cocco were those responsible. Clave Digital quotes lawyer Matias Dorta as saying “Alvarez Renta places all the blame on Baez Figueroa”. Dorta is part of the legal team acting on behalf of the Dominican authorities in the case against Luis Alvarez Renta in the United States. Renta was fined a massive US$174 million, to be paid to the Dominican authorities, and the government’s legal representative, Carlos Salcedo, said that the government’s priority was to ensure the money is paid back. These remarks were made during a debate that took place at a meeting of the Coalition for Transparency and Institutionalism in Santo Domingo last night, during which Alvarez Renta’s lawyers were also present.