“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is” means that when something appears incredibly positive or beneficial, it’s likely that there’s a hidden catch or reason to be suspicious. Local association of real estate project promotors, Acoprovi, urges people choosing to buy on paper to take firm steps to make sure the project is legit.
In recent years, talented salespeople have convinced many Dominicans abroad to invest their hard-earned savings into dream homes on paper. Foreigners, in lesser degree, have been victims, too. When the properties are not delivered as promised, the investors hire lawyers to try not to lose it all, and the sad tales of ambition and gullibility go public.
The newest of the scam cases, the so-called Operation Cheetah (Operacion Guepardo) has hit the media as the state prosecutors prepare to present their findings in court.
The Attorney General of the Dominican Republic reported on Saturday, 15 February 2025, the arrest in Colombia of one of the alleged brains behind a recent enormous real estate fraud scheme Operation Cheetah (Operacion Guepardo). The woman, Loany Lismeiry Ortiz Nova, has been cited as the principal individual in this very large scheme which was busted by the authorities on 7 February 2025 after several months of investigations. Indictments are pending on several issues as the local justice department builds its case.
Ortiz Nova was arrested in the city of San Jose de Cucuta in Colombia, after passing through Panama. The arrest came through Interpol working in conjunction with the Money Laundering Division of the Dominican National Police.
Previously, in the same case, in the Dominican Republic Marisol Nova Nolasco and Rocío del Alba Rodríguez de Moya, both said to be members of the same criminal organization, have been brought to justice.
Likewise, on 11 February, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in La Romana, along with the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office Against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, executed the arrest of Yves Alexandre Giroux in the same case. Giroux had gone missing on 7 February 2025, when authorities attempted to apprehend him during a raid at an exclusive villa in Cocotal, located in the tourist area of Punta Cana, Higüey, in the province of La Altagracia.
Giroux, Nova Nolasco, and Rodríguez de Moya are scheduled to face a pretrial detention hearing on February 18 at the La Romana Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services.
The state prosecutors told reporters that they worked with the Anti-Money Laundering Prosecutor’s office as well as the people at the Migration Agency. Ortiz Nova had left the country in November 2024, heading to Bogota, Colombia. Interpol-Bogota was contacted and offered their collaboration. After the case files were exchanged, the authorities in Colombia located and arrested Ortiz Nova, who now faces extradition on charges of money laundering and real estate fraud.
What is of most concern in this case is that the masterminds of these sales on paper backed their credibility on the international realtor platform, Remax. One of the owners, Rocio Rodriguez was proud of her achievement of securing the franchise for Remax One in the Dominican Republic. In an interview with the first Remax representative in the country, Melido Marte, Rocio Rodriguez spoke of her ambitious plan to build a major broker agency with offices in 10 key Dominican locations.
The realtor network used the well-respected Re/MAX platform to promote real estate projects here in the Dominican Republic. Their targets were persons in the United States, Puerto Rico and Europe.
In its reporting on the Guepardo real estate fraud case, Diario Libre says if found guilty, the accused would receive at most a five-year jail sentence, given the limitations established in the current Penal Code.
Read more:
El Caribe
Attorney General Office
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Acoprovi
You Tube Interview Melido Marte with Rocio Rodriguez, founder of Remax One
Asofidom