The preliminary official report on the collapse of the roof of the JetSet Club on 8 April 2025 with at least 236 dead and more than 180 injured points to the overloading of its roof as the main cause. New evidence has revealed the owners had ample and repeated evidence the roof had serious problems and yet delayed in taking corrective actions.
The judge in the pre-trial hearing, Fatima Veloz instructed the two lead accused parties, siblings Antonio and Maribel Espaillat to post bail of RD$50 million (10% insurance-backed bond). Both are impeded from leaving the country as the case is heard but are free to go about their business affairs. The judge declared the case complex and gave 18 months for the trial.
The state prosecutors had categorized the case as an involuntary homicide. The prosecutors say that is all the Penal Code allows. The maximum sentence in the case is two years in jail. The victims’ defense have requested a change in the categorization, saying there is ample evidence the owners could have avoided the tragedy and instead delayed taking action.
The defense lawyers for accused siblings Antonio and Maribel Espaillat during the hearing for pretrial measures announced advances in reaching deals with dozens of the victims. The acceptance of RD$1 million by Zulinka Perez, the daughter of merengue artist Rubby Perez who was performing on the stage that fatal evening, was made known in the hearing. The lawyers said she desisted from suing. Her husband also got a check for RD$1 million. Zulinka Perez would later say that was their compensation as a member of the orchestra.
She expressed her hope that all would be able to be able to be resolved. In a video, she said her only interest is that all be transparent. She said that she hopes that with peace, justice and respect the people can move on.
In an interview with Edith Febles two weeks after the tragedy, JetSet Club owner Antonio Espaillat had called for the victims to come forth to receive compensation, announcing their willingness to provide assistance with the schooling of the orphans. Around 175 children were orphaned in the tragedy.
A victims’ defense lawyer in an interview with Somos Pueblo says that the judge hearing the pre-trial measures exceeded her capacity in categorizing the case as an involuntary homicide. The defense of the victims also criticized that the judge ruled in that same hearing for pre-trial custody measures to remove the limiting of actions the owners could take to protect their patrimony and that of third parties. The defense lawyer told Somos Pueblo the owner(s) had signing rights in 33 companies, according to registries with the Chamber of Commerce.
The defense of the owners of JetSet Club announced the owners have already disbursed more than RD$26 million in compensation to victims or relatives, CDN reports. CDN reports 61 agreements were reached. Around 600 people were in the nightclub at the moment of the collapse of the roof, between patrons and staff, including the club’s general manager Maribel Espaillat and her husband.
Meanwhile, a story on Monday, 23 June 2025 in El Dia says that the JetSet tragedy opens the debate: How much is a victim worth in Dominican justice?
In addition to the ownership of JetSet Club, Antonio Espaillat is known as a media mogul with leading investments in mainly major media in the Dominican Republic and in entertainment businesses in the United States. Judge Veloz is the daughter of an employee of one of the third party companies in which the owner of JetSet Club is also reported to be a shareholder at the time of the tragedy.
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CBS News
El Caribe
El Caribe
El Caribe
El Caribe
Somos Pueblo
Diario Libre
N Digital
N Digital
Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
Statements by Zulinka Perez
Al Tanto
Al Tanto
El Nuevo Diario
El Dia
El Dia
Ricardo Nieves
DR1 News – Edith Febles interview with Antonio Espaillat
DR1 News Preliminary Technical Report
23 June 2025