Traffic jams and bottlenecks near the Palacio de la Justicia courthouse marked the start of the first hearings into the Plan Renove case of fraud against the state. The case is based on an audit carried out by the general controller’s office during the past Mejia government that showed major irregularities in purchasing procedures for the multi-billion peso public transport renovation program. Judge Alfredo Rios Fabian is preparing the case.
Yesterday, state prosecutors presented charges against 16 persons, including several high-ranking Mejia government officers. El Caribe newspaper says that retired Rear Admiral Ramon Emilio Jimenez (a former chief of the Armed Forces during a Balaguer administration) is accused of initiating a purchase process without a tender and of recommending the purchase be made to an unauthorized representative of the Korean brand Hyundai. State prosecutors accuse him of using his influence so the order not be placed with Magna Motors, the authorized dealer, and instead with the more expensive option recommended by the team head by Jimenez. The government chose the offer presented by Sam Goodson, who had the support of Jimenez.
The state prosecutors also accused Franco Badia of continuing with the process started by his predecessor, Jimenez. They accuse him of consenting to pay more than US$622,000 to Goodson, money that the prosecutors say was distributed among former government officers for the purchase of their consent. In addition to the overvaluation of the vehicles, Franco is accused of approving financing that was onerous to the government, and of involvement in the distribution of vehicles to government officers based on political and military weight.