The Dominican Republic is just one of over half a dozen countries in Latin America that saw major corruption scandals and trials of offending officials related to the Brazilian construction company, Odebrecht. At least one president, several ministers and other high-ranking officials of governments in Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil were all convicted of bribery, and corruption.
But in the Dominican Republic, where the Odebrecht bribes office reportedly operated from the same Presidential Palace, the two most prominent persons, former Minister of Public Works, Victor Diaz Rua, and businessman Angel Rondon, who acted as the paymaster for Odebrecht, were convicted and sentenced.
Last Friday, nevertheless, the Supreme Court of Justice, accepted their appeals and reversed the lower court’s verdicts in the case.
As such, the Dominican Republic is the laughing stock for its fight against corruption and is the only country that has not convicted anyone in connection with the bribes paid out by Odebrecht to get government construction contracts. In the particular case of Odebrecht in the Dominican Republic, it was revealed in testimony in Brazil that Odebrecht had paid Angel Rondon US$92 million (over RD$4.0 billion) for distribution to government officials to receive contracts for various infrastructure and energy projects in the country. Dominican prosecutors never traveled to Brazil to pick up the proofs from the Brazilian prosecutors.
Z101 morning show blames the “media show” style of the Office of the Attorney General prosecutors for the ruling. El Dia explains that the defense lawyers were able to take advantage of the loopholes left by the prosecutors.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
El Dia
Z101 Digital
12 August 2024