Diario Libre reports again today on the family and political ties behind the contracting of services at the Central Bank. Through a press release, Jose Lois Malkum, the Central Bank Governor, denied that he had dispensed with transparency and awarded tenders to favor those with political or personal ties to him, following a story that appeared on 25 March in Diario Libre. To dispute the Central Bank release sent out yesterday, Diario Libre highlights that Elsa Beatriz Bobadilla Goico, the daughter of one of the Lois Malkum?s cousins, receives a RD$239,500 monthly check as a result of her company, Comercio Internacional de las Antillas, having obtained the contract for the housekeeping at the Central Bank Club. The article also mentions that Liz Anllela Dabas Dabas, who is related to Lois Malkum through family, received the contract to oversee the administration of the Central Bank cafeteria after a tender called in July 2003 was cancelled. The lease contract for the cafeteria is signed by Lois Malkum himself, instead of by Apolinar Veloz, the administrative director of the Central Bank, who would normally handle such matters. The newspaper points to a notary public?s statement that establishes the signatures were signed by those whose names appear and points out this was not true in the case of the Veloz signature. The newspaper also questions the fact that Lois Malkum?s daughter-in-law, Racel Molinari, is listed as one of his advisers in charge of the Department of Communications. Diario Libre also challenges the propriety of the purchase of US$84,283 worth of tickets to the Caribbean Baseball Series last February, a sum that was paid out in hard currency following instructions from the Presidency. Previously, Lois Malkum had disputed a claim by Diario Libre that the Central Bank was operating as a petty cash for the government.
Furthermore, the newspaper says that the Press Department of the Presidency awarded RD$25 million in advertising contracts to AS Publicidad, a company it defines as being linked to the government. It indicates that receipts for this contract were submitted by Press Officer Luis Gonzalez Fabra’s assistant, Cecilia de Lopez, to Racel Molinari, Lois Malkum’s daughter-in-law.
Also mentioned is a Central Bank authorization dated 23 December that facilitated RD$1 million to Almacenes Karacas for the purchase of toys for the Children?s Council (CONANI), a governmental program of the Presidency where the newspaper says a relative of Lois Malkum is involved. It furthermore questions the fact that the Central Bank contracted advertising with Peggy Cabral & Asociados for her TV program ?Conversando con Peggy,? mentioning that the show?s producer, Fernando Nunez, had requested a monthly advertising budget of RD$50,000. A handwritten notification increased this allotment to RD$75,000 a month, according to the Diario Libre, as per instructions from the Central Bank governor.