Yesterday, Monday 22 April 2019, the Attorney General Office admitted that it had asked for authorization to tap a telephone that belonged to Conrado Pittaluga Vicioso, son of Conrado Pittaluga Arzeno, one of those accused in the Odebrecht case. The son’s phone was being used by one of Conrado Pittaluga’s defense lawyers.
Milciades Guzmán, head prosecutor for Santo Domingo East, told Supreme Court judge Francisco Ortega Polanco that the request for the phone tapping was made by the Attorney General Office when Pittaluga was in jail. He said Pittaluga had used the phone.
He said that in every investigation of money laundering it is completely normal to investigate family members and close friends. He added that in order to tap a phone, one did not have to be 100% certain as to who the phone belongs to, but rather to know who might use it.
He made the remarks following an appeal from Conrado Pittaluga’s defense to obtain information from Claro about the telephone tapping, a motion that was rejected by judge Francisco Ortega Polanco. The defense lawyers for Conrado Pittaluga then motioned to recuse the judge, accusing him of lacking impartiality and fairness in the case. The court now needs to decide whether he accepts the petition. It is the seventh recusal petition made to Judge Ortega in the case.
Legal experts have repeatedly observed regarding procedural flaws that are likely to affect the outcome of the Odebrecht case in the Dominican Republic. So far, the Attorney General is only hearing the case of seven persons related to the case.
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23 April 2019