The Public Ministry requested in court on 7 April 2025 significant prison sentences, including 20 years for the alleged ringleader, Juan Alexis Medina Sánchez, brother of former President Danilo Medina Sanchez. The jail terms sought range from three to 15 years for other defendants accused of administrative corruption. The prosecution presented its sentencing demands to the Second Collegiate Tribunal of the National District.
Juan Alexis Medina Sánchez is accused of forming a corporate network to gain economic advantages in state contracts through collusion with officials, influence peddling, the use of false documents, and fraudulent maneuvers, including contract simulation and the use of figureheads. He faces charges of money laundering, embezzlement, unjustified enrichment, and illicit financing of political campaigns.
According to the accusatory body, Medina Sánchez orchestrated the sophisticated network that illicitly diverted over RD$5 billion in public funds. Prosecutors contend that the scheme involved fraudulent contracts, influence peddling, and the use of frontmen to conceal the illicit activities. In addition to the prison term, the Public Ministry is seeking a fine equivalent to 400 minimum wages for Medina Sánchez.
Presenting their case before judges Claribel Nivar Arias, Yissel Soto, and Clara Sobeida Castillo, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca), led by Mirna Ortiz and supported by prosecutors Elizabeth Paredes, Ernesto Guzmán, and Yoneivy González, also requested 15-year prison sentences and 200 minimum wage fines for José Dolores Santana Carmona and Wacal Vernabel Méndez Pineda.
Former president of the Patrimonial Fund of Reformed Companies (Fonper), Fernando Aquilino Rosa Rosa, and Alexis Medina Sánchez’s sister, Carmen Magalys Medina Sánchez, who served as the former administrative vice president of Fonper, face a requested 10-year prison sentence. The same 10-year term was sought for Carlos José Alarcón, Ramón Brea Morel (Jhonny Brea), and Lina Ercilia de la Cruz Vargas.
Furthermore, the Public Ministry requested 10-year prison sentences and 200 minimum wage fines for Libni Arodi Valenzuela Matos, Paola Mercedes Molina Suazo, Carlos Martín Montes de Oca, Rigoberto Alcántara Batista, José Miguel Genao Torres, Antonio Florentino Méndez, Fulvio Antonio Cabreja Gómez, and José Idelfonso Correa Martínez.
Lesser sentences of five years in prison and 200 minimum wage fines were requested for Pachristy Emmanuel Ramírez Pacheco, former Minister of Public Health Lorenzo Wilfredo Hidalgo Núñez, and Rafael Antonio Germosén Andújar.
Aquiles Alejandro Cristopher Sánchez, a former inspector of the now-defunct State Supervisory Office of Public Works (Oisoe), faces a requested three-year prison sentence.
The prosecution has also demanded that all defendants be barred from contracting with the state and holding public office for 10 years. They are also seeking the confiscation of all seized assets derived from the alleged illicit activities and the civic degradation of the defendants, entailing the loss of civil, political, and citizenship rights. The Public Ministry further requested that the sentences be served in the Najayo Hombres and Najayo Mujeres correctional facilities in San Cristóbal.
Prosecutor Ortiz explained that the Public Ministry has presented substantial evidence demonstrating the existence of an organized criminal structure that, through influence peddling, frontmen, fraudulent maneuvers, simulated contracts, and violations of public procurement regulations, managed to misappropriate billions of pesos from the public treasury, harming various state institutions.
The court is now expected to deliberate on the prosecution’s requests and deliver its verdict in this high-profile corruption case.
Read more in Spanish:
PGR
El Caribe
Diario Libre
Listin Diario
8 April 2025