The National Police has recovered 50 vehicles that had been reported stolen, were recovered by the police, and then irregularly transferred to police officers, including several generals. Some of the victims of the thefts, many of whom still had to continue making monthly installments on their vehicles, have demanded that these law officials be brought to justice for having illicitly used their property. New Police Chief Major General Manuel de Jesus Perez Sanchez had given a 72-hour term for the return of the stolen vehicles, which are now to be returned to their legitimate owners.
Hoy newspaper reports that the situation was first brought to light by the Dominican Chamber of Insurance Companies, but the police under the previous chief never heeded their claims. “When any authority recovers stolen property and retains it for its own use, it commits a crime that is punishable by our legal codes, and to ignore that would be a serious violation of the law,” reads the newspaper’s editorial.
District Attorney Jose Manuel Hernandez Peguero said that those who hang on to the vehicles will be subject to persecution, in view of the expiry of the 72-hour deadline granted. Law officials estimate that police officers had in their possession some 300 vehicles, most of which are SUVs and luxury vehicles. Even the former police chief, Jaime Marte Martinez, was found to have a stolen vehicle at his disposal, as reported today in the Listin Diario.
Insurance Superintendent Euclides Gutierrez initiated the effort to return the vehicles to their rightful owners, after receiving complaints from private insurers’ representatives.